


Cat Fairies & Curses

by orphan_account



Category: GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Curses, Fairies, M/M, Magic, Supernatural Elements, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-08-11 13:43:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16476665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: A Modern Fairytale AUOne rainy day Jaebum was walking towards his trainee dorm when he met a starving black cat and decided to bring it home. He finds out the cat is not like any other cat he has met and begins to see there is much more to the world around him than he ever previously thought.





	1. Wishes

Rain.

Cold.

Need food.

Life as a cat was never simple, never easy.

People were frightening and cruel, that was what the other cats said.

He just needed to find the right people, he knew that.

Maybe the right person was just around the next corner.

Without finding someone he wasn't sure he'd survive through the winter.

He made his way back to a place he watched often, a place he knew well and that was when he saw him. He had finally found the person he knew would help him. He darted out from his hideaway into the path of Im Jaebum.

*************

It was an ordinary day, one full of exhausting dance practices, long recording sessions and a meeting with management. He’d prepared for a debut before, he knew how much pressure their was and that none of it would slow down. They were moving fast but still didn’t have a name.

Jaebum was tired. 

The pressure of being the leader wasn’t something foreign to him but it was completely different in a duo. It was something he didn’t want to keep thinking about. The expectations on th kept mounting, market predictions were saying it would be a good debut. It was raining hard, Jaebum was cold. He didn’t bring an umbrella today because rain wasn’t in the forecast.

“I wish it would stop raining,” he grumbled and in seconds the rain stopped. His eyes widened as the clouds in the sky cleared. “What the hell?” What an odd coincidence.

He then heard the sound of a cat meow and he looked down and in front of him was a little black kitten. It was soaked and shaking. Jaebum smiled, knelt down and held out his hand to it. It meowed again and trotted over to him. Jaebum scratched the kittens ears.

“Hello little guy,” he said and the kitten started purring and instantly warmed up to him. Jaebum had never had a stray cat act like this before. He liked petting them but they were normally shy.

The kitten looked scrawny, like he was starving and he was shivering. He reached a hand down to pick him up, he was tiny. Jaebum worried about him, he couldn’t just leave him here. He would get in trouble if his manger found out but the he was puring as Jaebum wrapped him in his jacket.

“I’ve got you,” Jaebum said, “I’m going to take care of you.”

He walked on and was still amazed that the rain had completely stopped. He got back to the dorm building and kept the kitten hidden as he walked through the halls. He would be moving in a couple weeks to share a dorm with the others who would be in his group. He had his own space for now, that would go away soon. He had to go through a couple other rooms to get to it. Once he got there he shut the door and locked it and put the kitten down on his bed. Nora darted from where she was to come check out the newcomer. He worked to get another bowl out. 

“I wish I had kitten food for you,” Jaebum said to the kitten, “but Nora can share some of her food.” He opened the small cabinet where he kept Nora’s food and was surprised. Next to all her cans of food were cans of kitten food.

He looked at it shocked and confused, he looked back at the kitten and it meowed. Maybe he had accidentally gotten kitten food when he had went to get Nora some food last. He must have done that, he made a mistake but a happy one. That’s all this had to be.

“Well it seems we have food for both of you,” he said and he got Nora’s food in her bowl before he brought the kitten over his food.

Jaebum set the bowl in front of him then set out to make himself food. He got an instant ramen package ready then sat down next to the kitten. He then realized the kitten hadn’t had touched his food.

“You don’t want to eat little guy?” He asked and the kitten jumped onto his lap. He had to adjust quickly so he didn’t spill his ramen. The kitten was sniffing up at his bowl. 

“You can’t eat this,” Jaebum said. The kitten meowed, and meowed again. Jaebum held the bowl up and wondered why he was refusing his kitten food.

“You can’t eat ramen little guy,” Jaebum told him, “I gave you food.” The kitten let out a cry so sad, and it was so scrawny Jaebum wondered if he should give in.

He looked so pitiful, Jaebum needed to think of a name for him too just so he had something to call him. The kittens eyes were beautiful, big and brown. And the way he was watching Jaebum was quite adorable. Jaebum took a bit of ramen out of the bowl and held it to the kitten. He ate the ramen and Jaebum smiled but he was still confused. He had never seen a cat that wanted to eat ramen. He didn’t think it was healthy for him at all but the kitten was so scrawny, something was better than nothing at all.

“What should I call you?” Jaebum asked.

The kitten meowed again as Jaebum fed him another bit of his ramen.

"I think I'll call you Rainy," Jaebum said, because he had met him after the rain. Still the more he thought about it, it was strange that the rain stopped. It was even stranger that he had kitten food. He watched Rainy eating another bite of ramen and wondered further.

"I wish I had some beef right now," Jaebum said allowed. Rainy looked up at him then continued eating. Jaebum looked around. He didn't see anything, so it really was just coincidences. He leaned back. And when he looked back to his left there was a small plate of beef. His mouth dropped and he dropped his chopsticks. He looked at the kitten then back at the beef.

"What the hell?" he asked, then his phone buzzed. He moved the kitten off his lap and but the bowl down.

It was a text from Jackson asking if he could come up and talk to him. He texted back that he was tired and they could talk tomorrow. Jackson was constantly asking him questions about his meetings, it was tiring. He just wanted to get a good nights rest, the next day was busy. Jaebum wasn't sure he could be leader, he wasn't sure he would be a good one. Sometimes he thought Mark should lead. Mark would be a good leader, but he still wasn't comfortable with his Korean. If he had been Jaebum was sure Mark would have been the one selected.

It was times like these he wished things were simple. He missed it when it was just him and Junior. Him and Jinyoung. He didn't know why things had changed like the did, he really wished he could go back and do better. He then noticed, the new kitten was eating the beef... The beef he'd wished for, and a wish formed in his mind. That wish he didn't want to say out loud because of pride. Pride was one of his biggest failings, in his insecurities he had a lot of pride.

"You shouldn't be eating that," Jaebum complained. He moved the odd kitten away. The kitten meowed loudly and headed straight for the plate of beef again. Jaebum gave up and walked to his bathroom. Rainy was still soaked from the rain, so he brought a towel in to dry him. He put it down and moved Rainy and the plate of beef on the towel.

Then he took a shower and decided to think more about the strange occurrences. He was a little more than freaked out by them, it was partially the reason he didn't want Jackson coming up. He didn't want to explain why he was eating beef without him, it was too crazy.

He finished up and when he walked back into his room Rainy was sitting next to Nora on his bed, he moved them and got in. Nora jumped out but he Rainy moved up and curled up against his arm. Jaebum smiled and turned off the light, he hoped he could get Rainy healthy again.

 

***********

"JAEBUM!!!" Jackson screeched his name, he was running down the halls of the building again and Jaebum grimaced.

"You don't have to yell for me to hear you," Jaebum replied, he knew it wasn't fair but he was tired. Dance practice that morning had been grueling.

"But I like yelling hyung!" Jackson declared, "I need your help with something."

"Another time," Jaebum replied.

"No hyung," Jackson whined, "I need your help now."

"What is it?" Jaebum questioned, he was sure Jackson wanted more help with his singing again. Jackson was given the role of a rapper in the group and he was trying to convince the producers that he could take on more vocally. Because Jaebum was currently the main vocalist of the group, there were talks to add another vocalist for that role, Jackson kept grabbing him.

"I need your help with a vocal part," Jackson said, "Joonho said I might be perfect for it so I want to practice some more."

"I can't today," Jaebum replied, "I'm sure you can do it, I have some important stuff on my schedule."

"A meeting with management again?" Jackson asked.

"Yeah," Jaebum responded even though it was a blatant lie.

"What was the last one about?" Jackson asked, "why so many?" 

"They've got a lot they want to go over with me," Jaebum replied, "being leader is a big responsibility, and they're preparing me for it." Jackson begged a bit more but Jaebum was becoming good at saying no repeatedly. He walked by some of the other trainees on the way out of the building. He needed to clear his head, he was sick of being yelled at in practices. All eyes were on him to be setting the pace & leading.

He walked out of the building & down toward the park nearby. He wished that he had someone to talk to at the moment. Most of his friends who would understand his worries were currently promoting Idols who didnt have time. The boys in his group hadn't dealt with any of it before.He felt quite alone sometimes facing everything again.

He walked back towards the dorms and remembered the kitten he'd found and the strange occurrences. He went back wondering if he could wish for something else. Maybe he really was going crazy from the pressure. He walked back to his room and when he did Rainy immediately darted out, and meowed loudly at seeing him.

"Hey little guy," Jaebum said, he knelt down to pet him and the kitten started purring again. "Let's see if this works." He said, "I wish for a red hoodie."

Nothing appeared immediately. He looked around and nothing. He searched a bit and nothing at all had appeared. He really was going crazy. He sighed and laid down on his bed. Nora jumped up next to him and he put her head, he could always count on her to know when he was down.It was early, still all he wanted to do was sleep. He leaned over to turn off the light and he wasn't surprised when he felt little paws on his chest, Nora was laying next to him but Rainy curled up on his chest.

He thought about telling them his worries, maybe that would help. He didn't want to go any crazier than he already was, so he just drifted off to sleep with all those worries still replaying in his mind. What if they didn't do well enough? What if he wasn't able to do the job set out for him? What if he failed and caused them all to fail? He wished he knew the answers. He wished he knew why things went wrong the last time so he could do better.

His mind thought of wishes, and strange occurrences. Maybe there was a three wish limit he had maxed out already. The likelihood was that he was really crazy. The next morning when he stared at the red hoodie hanging in his closet he wondered if this was all part of an elaborate hidden camera prank. That was the only logical explanation. He glanced around his room in search of one, and decided to do a more detailed search later. The thought made him a bit paranoid that people could be following him with cameras. What would the purpose of a prank like this be? He didn't know, and he wasn't sure he wanted to find out. He showed up to morning dance practice a bit wary of everything involving cameras.

"What's going on hyung?" Yugyeom asked, "you're never late." Was he late?

"Oh," Jaebum replied, "my alarm didn't go off."

"Hyung we're getting another member!" BamBam said excitedly, "you missed manager-nim telling us about it!"

"He's a really good vocalist!" Jackson said. Jaebum had been given the heads up about a potential new member a couple weeks before, that the rest of the members had heard now meant that it was true. There would be 6 of them now, the same number as 2pm.

“What’s his name?” Jaebum asked.

“Choi Youngjae,” Jacksons said.

6 members. Mark, Jackson, Yugyeom, BamBam, Youngjae and himself. It was all coming together. 3 vocalists and 3 rappers.

“Okay,” Jaebum said, “well lets get to work.” Their coreographer wasn’t there today, they would be going over everything they had already learned.

Jaebum was set to be leading the practice for the day. He started the music as the others got into formation. They were testing different ideas for several songs, their title hadn’t been decided yet. They would perform to three songs for the producers and manager of JYP. The first track was one Jaebum got disheartened to hear, he hoped it wasn’t selected for their title. It was supposed to be the song for JJ Project’s comeback that never happened. He opened the dance and the others followed, it was intricate and difficult to dance to.

He started thinking about how they would have to bring Youngjae into all of this and get him caught up in a couple weeks. They wanted everything set before Christmas for an early January debut, right as Jaebum would turn 20.He messed up a bit because of lack of focus.

They finished off the song and Jaebum was a bit annoyed at himself. Because of his mistake Mark and Yugyeom had also made mistakes. There were leaders and management members in the room monitoring. He knew he was being evaluated constantly.

“Sorry I made the first mistake.” He knew being a good leader meant owning up to his mistakes.

“You’re all doing well,” Jaebum replied, “let’s go back over it from the beginning again and then address any areas we are having trouble with.” They all nodded in agreement as Jaebum moved to turn on the song. Certain parts just reminded him of his teammate who wasn’t here. It was always difficult to focus with that reminder. But they got through it, there was one part of the song Jaebum noticed everyone was struggling through and he knew where they could work today.

He felt bad when practice was over, he was supposed to be leading and he made the most mistakes. Their manager kept reminding him if the showcase for the heads of the company didn’t go well the group could be pulled. No announcement about the companies plans had been made yet. Everyone was watching him first, because he had failed before.

“Good practice everyone,” he said halfheartedly, “we’ll meet back here at 2:00, reminder Mark & Jackson will be in the studio till then.”

“BamBam & Yugyeom will work with Yougjae this afternoon,” their manager said.

“Jaebum,” he called him out, “you come with me.” Jaebum sighed, maybe all of this was part of a hidden camera prank. Could he wish to get out of this? Or was this really related to that tiny kitten? He would have to test this further. He wanted to hit himself, he was crazy. Jaebum didn’t ask where they were going, he just followed. He was too out if it to care.

“What’s gotten into you lately?” His manager asked, “you’re not normally like this.” 

“What?” Jaebum asked.

“This way,” they left the building together and started walking on the street.

“You’ve been one of our most promising trainees for a long time Jaebum,” the man said, “but in the past two weeks you’ve seemed distracred, like your mind is somewhere else. This debut is important for the company and for your future here, you need to be present in the moment.”

“I’m sorry,” Jaebum responded with all the sincerity he could muster, “I will do better.” They walked on a bit more till they reached a restaurant. It was one his manager liked to take him for small meetings.

“Anything you want to tell me?” The manager asked after they ordered.

“No,” Jaebum replied.

“There’s been something bothering you,” he observed again, “we’re going to sit here till you start talking.”

Jaebum hated this tactic. He wasn’t talkative about the things that weighed on him, maybe he could turn the conversation somewhere else.

“I need to ask,” Jaebum said, “do you have a contact number for Jinyoung?” He knew that if Jinyoung wanted to hear from him he would have left him some way to contact him. As it was he just picked up and left, the company was even confused by it. His manager sighed.

“It wouldn’t do you any good even if you had it,” he replied, “he never picks up. After he left I called him multiple times a day, he never answered.” That meant he probably didn’t want to talk to anyone. He didn’t want to ever come back. It hurt because Jaebum didn’t know why.

“It’s just...” Jaebum had to say it to someone, “I feel like the group was meant for him, like he should be here...” He could elaborate, say he wished he had Jinyoung there because Jinyoung would understand his fears like no one else did. Jinyoung and him had been in it before.

“Is that what’s been bothering you?” His manager asked.

Was it? Jaebum knew it was bigger than that.

“I’m honestly not sure I am the best person to lead this team,” Jaebum said, “any team. I’m not...” He didn’t know how to describe it.

“Jaebum you’re going to do great.”

“You’ve got everything you need,” the manager said, “you’re worries are part of what tells me you’re going to be perfect for this role. You take it seriously and understand the responsibility. Not many people get that.” Jaebum wasn’t certain.

“It’s a lot of pressure,” he said.

“I wish...” Jaebum said allowed but he realized these words could make whatever was going on transparent. Could he wish for time to be reversed? For JJ Project to have crushed all expectations? Would that have kept him from this position or brought it to him faster? If he wished for something now would it come true? He didn’t want to test that here, but he realized how often he had been using that verbage.

I wish...

I wish Jinyoung were here.

Because he was the only one who would have understood how Jaebum felt, a redebut wasn’t easy. That evening he walked back alone again and it started raining. He didn’t bring an umbrella again. He stopped on the sidewalk and looked at the rain. It was too cold outside to just stand out in it but the rain... The wishes and Rainy. The rain poured on...

“I wish the rain would stop.” Nothing happened. It had to be different… It had to be beacause of Rainy. Jaebum needed to know. He ran back to the door, careful not to slip as he ran. It wasn’t too far, it wasn’t impossible to run there. He made it to the building and ran up the stairs. He ran through the halls and the rooms to his dorm room.

“Rainy!” He called the little cat’s name as he opened the door. He didn’t see the kitten but he hear small cries. Rainy peaked his little head out from the covers of Jaebum’s bed, he was meowing sadly and looked frightened.

“It’s okay little guy,” Jaebum sat down & grabbed him. Rainy was clearly crying, he had never seen a cat cry like this. He held him close to him.

“What’s wrong Rainy?” Jaebum asked, “are you sick?” Maybe he had gotten sick from eating ramen. But then Jaebum realized the rain was still pouring outside and the window was open. He had found him in the rain, alone. How many rainy days had this kitten been out there alone?

“I wish the rain would stop,” Jaebum said and in seconds the sound of the pouring rain ceased. The kitten stopped crying and settled against Jaebum. Rainy was scared of the rain. But this proved what he had thought before, the wishes came true around Rainy.

“I wish for some beef,” Jaebum said again, and this time when a small plate showed up on his bed he ate it and shared a few bites with the kitten who was much calmer now that the rain was over. Jaebum smiled at the way he ate the beef and curled up on Jaebum’s lap. Jaebum wondered what the limitations were for his wishes. He wondered how this was possible and what it meant? He had to find out more, and he wasn’t even sure where to begin. 

“Rainy,” Jaebum smiled. "What are you?" Jaebum asked allowed and the thought of a wish.

"I wish for dance practice tomorrow to be cancelled," he said, "and I wish for Jackson to stop yelling for me in the halls." He wasn't sure if he was wasting wishes or not but those things would give him some peace. "And I wish for my parents to come visit for Christmas," Jaebum said. He was smiling ear to ear thinking of all the possibilities.

Where did he come from? How come Jaebum had been the one to find him? He saw Rainy's big brown eyes watching him, he seemed sad. There was something so expressive about his eyes, Jaebum had never met a cat quite like this. He smiled and laid down to sleep again with Nora by his side and Rainy curled up on his chest. Things could start getting better from here. There was so much for him to wish for.


	2. Research

The next day dance practice was cancelled.

Jaebum was in shock when he showed up to the building and was told they were given the day completely off. Jackson had apparently sprained his ankle jumping off a wall near the building. His manager was angry about it but Jaebum felt so much relief. The stress and pressure was beginning to weigh on him, a day off was a welcome relief. His mind was a bit of a buzz thinking over the wishes and the implications it had. Maybe it was all just coincidence and he was going insane. Maybe it was a hidden camera and someone was pulling one over on him.

Despite all those thoughts Jaebum left the building with a bit of excitement to his step. He was headed back to the dorm and he heard quick steps. He turned back to see Mark and Yugyeom walking after him. 

"Hyung," Yugyeom called out to him, "Mark and I are going to get lunch together want to come?" Yugyeom was a sweet kid, the youngest of their group and a great dancer. Jaebum didn't want to go go lunch but really but he was hungry and it was hard to say no to Yugyeom.

Mark was someone Jaebum had known for a long time, he was on the quiet side. He knew Mark was quiet mostly because he wasn’t confident in his Korean. Jaebum had seen him much more talkative with Jackson and BamBam in English or just with Jackson in Chinese. Yugyeom and Mark really got along well, even when Mark couldn’t speak much Korean at all.

Jaebum agreed to go with them, happy their company was easy and comfortable. They went to a small restaurant near the dorms they all knew well. Yugyeom went to order their food while Mark and Jaebum found a place to sit. Jaebum knew the time before debut was easier, and if they made it big people would be taking their picture everywhere they went. Occasionally people still spotted Jaebum and some rumors would make the rounds about what JYP was going to do with JJ Project. No one had so far picked up on the fact that the duo was dissolved and added back into a training group.

“You’ve been acting strange lately,” Mark said, he was quiet and that went well with observant. Jaebum realized Mark was the second person to call his behavior strange and he felt defensive over it. He didn’t think he was acting that much different than normal.

“I’m just tired,” Jaebum pushed the worries aside. Too many people were noticing that he was out of sorts. Was he really that readable? He had always thought he was an okay actor. He would get out of his funk soon enough if people would leave him alone.

“I adopted a new kitten,” Jaebum said to change the subject, he knew his members would find out about Rainy eventually. He wouldn’t share about the strange occurrences but he had no intention of giving Rainy up anytime soon.

“Are you serious?” Mark asked. Why wouldn’t he be serious? Jaebum thought that was a strange response to what he’d waid.

“Yeah,” Jaebum said, “I met him the other day when it was raining, he was starving so I took him home. He’s still really little and really sweet. He needed a good home.”

“Jaebum,” Mark replied, “didn’t you hear that Youngjae is allergic to cats. When we all move in together it might not be a good idea to have cats in the dorm.” Jaebum’s heart sank, what was with his luck? Why did everything keep going sideways for him? He wondered if he could wish the allergies away so he could make it okay for his cats to live with him. He had met Youngjae the evening before, he was a sweet kid and had an amazing voice. They definitely needed him in the group so Jaebum didn’t want to push for his way and mess things up.

“We can probably come up with a compromise,” Jaebum said, “it’s still a couple of weeks.”

“Yeah,” Mark replied. Jaebum wanted to get back to his dorm, he would wish for Youngjae’s allergies to go away and then he could have his cats with him. He wanted one good thing for how awful that year had already been for him.

They all walked back towards the trainee dorms together. Mark had gotten a phone call that let them know Jackson was fine. The x-ray their manager had forced him to get proved that he had only sprained his ankle as they originally thought. Jaebum was concerned the injury would be more serious and cause further delays with their teams debut but he would be fine. Jackson was an important part of their group. Jaebum also felt a bit of guilt as he wondered if the injury was his fault due to his wish.

Every member of the group was important. Jaebum found himself worrying sometimes that he would lose any of them. He had too many worries in his head.  
Worries that one of them would leave, after all one had left already. People left all the time, sometimes to different companies or they just decided music and entertainment wasn’t for them.

Sometimes he just wanted to sleep all day and forget his worries, that was why he was glad the day had given him a chance to rest. He went to his room in the dorm and was greeted by his cats. He smiled and sat on his bed. He was exhausted despite not even doing anything.

Rainy was watching him, his little eyes were so expressive and Jaebum wondered what he would say if he could speak. He started meowing, his voice was really small.

“Are you hungry?” Jaebum asked him, he wondered if he should wish for beef again or something else. Rainy jumped on his lap and meowed loudly. It was almost as if he was trying to tell him something. The little kitten looked frustrated. He really was more expressive than any cat Jaebum had ever met.

“I wish for Youngjae’s allergies to go away,” Jaebum said. That was definitely something he needed to get out of the way as soon as he could. The cat meowed with a small huff and moved off his lap toward his closet quickly.

“What is it?” Jaebum really had no idea what to think. The cat was making little noises like he was giving a lecture. Was he being lectured by a kitten? Maybethere was something in the beef he ate. Maybe he was going insane. He was beginning to think that should go to the doctor, he was probably coming down with something.

Rainy jumped up on his closet shelves. The little kitten knocked a few things down and Jaebum wondered what he thought he was doing. He didn’t see any harm in Rainy climbing the shelves, Nora did it sometimes so he didn’t try to bring him down. Maybe the little kitten was just hungry.

“I wish for sushi,” Jaebum said, he wasn’t hungry himself. He had just eaten but he wanted to see if the wishes still worked or if he was just tired the day before. Maybe he had ordered beef and forgotten about the delivery process. He turned a bit and found that there was a plate of multiple different kinds of sushi on his bed. He sat down to eat it and hoped Rainy would come over so Jaebum could feed him some of the fish.

He heard the sound of something dragging and saw Rainy pushing something across the floor. Nora never did anything like that. He stopped in front of Jaebum and sat down next to the item. Maybe he wanted to play?

Jaebum looked what the kitten had brought to him and sighed. He hadn’t meant to keep what he was given, much less to have his cat drag it out for him. He thought he had tossed it a few weeks before when his manager had told him the news.

“Rainy that’s not a toy,” Jaebum said he reached down to pick it up. It was their single, their album, Bounce by JJ Project. The photoshoot was a crazy looking one, it was a style Jaebum never quite liked. He hadn’t even opened the album, it was still shrink wrapped. He didn’t even think he bought it himself. Jinyoung bought it for him after JJ Project was dissolved. That’s why he thought he’d thrown it out. It hurt, it was a reminder.

He didn’t want reminders of Jinyoung.

“Did you want me to open this?” Jaebum asked him. His kitten nodded. Jaebum’s eyes widened, he shook his head. He had to be imagining things, his kitten actually nodded.

“You can understand me?” He asked and once again the kitten nodded. Jaebum felt like he was going to faint. There was no way what was happening was real. There was a loud knock at the door suddenly and it interrupted the moment.

He sighed, he didn’t think it was to much to ask for to have one have a day of peace… He opened the door to see BamBam, Yugyeom and Jackson on the other side. Jackson was on crutches.

“What on earth were you thinking?” Was the first thing out of Jaebum’s mouth.

“I wasn’t thinking,” Jackson replied.

“We’re here to see your new kitten,” BamBam declared pushing past him into the room. Rainy had shied away under Jaebum’s bed at the noise and intrusion. Mark must have told them about him. Jaebum didn’t expect Mark to tell so quickly. 

“Why have you been hiding up here so much?” Jackson asked him, “it’s a mess!”

“It’s my room,” Jaebum replied, “that’s why I spend time here.” He didn’t think it being a mess was a problem since the only person living there was himself. When they all moved to a shared dorm that would be different. He’s shared rooms before and he did his best to always keep his stuff cleaned and organized.

“He’s so cute!” BamBam cried as he successfully coaxed Rainy out of his hiding placd. The kitten was purring as BamBam held him and stroked his hears.

“Yeah he is,” Jaebum replied.

“You’re eating Sushi without me?” Jackson whined. Jackson sat on his bed and picked up a bite to eat it. Jaebum was used to this kind of behavior from him and wasn’t hungry anyways so he was fine with Jackson enjoying it.

“This is really good,” Jackson declared and Jaebum was glad he didn’t follow up the statement with a question of where it was from.

“Help yourself,” Jaebum replied, not that it mattered what he’d offered because Jackson was already eating it.

“I want some!” Yugyeom declared. BamBam was playing with Rainy and Jaebum began to worry again that Jackson’s condition was his fault. He had made the wishes that led to this, he realized there were probably consequences for these wishes and that he should be careful. There was a lot that he didn’t know and couldn’t be sure of. He wondered if he was the only one who could make them around Rainy as well.

“BamBam did you eat yet?” Jaebum asked. He intended to test if other people could make wishes. If something resulted from the following statement to come he would just call it a prank.

“No hyung,” BamBam said, “I was going to make ramen later.”

“What do you wish you could eat right now?” Jaebum asked him. He hoped BamBam would respond the way he wanted him to.

“I wish I could eat Shabu Shabu,” BamBam said, Jaebum almost smiled brightly but he worked to keep his reaction at a minimum. He then looked around the room and nothing appeared at all. From that he was able to determine that it was only he who could make the wishes.

He saw Yugyeom pick something up off the ground & look at it. It was the album. He didn’t want to see it, he didn’t want to talk about it with anyone. He was frustrated that it was out and he didn’t care about why. Jaebum reached over and grabbed it out of his hand.

“Hyung?” Yugyeom questioned.

“That’s trash,” Jaebum said. He walked to the trash bin in his room and tossed the cd in it.

“Why would you do that?” Jackson asked, his voice lower and more serious. Jackson and Jaebum were friends but they had fought several times over little things. 

“You met the kitten now everyone get out,” Jaebum said colder. He didn’t want them there, and he didn’t want them prying in his business.

“Hyung?” BamBam looked hurt as he petted Rainy who looked up at Jaebum sadly. The small kitten had way to much emotional expression.

“I said get out,” Jaebum shouted at them. He had a short temper and they were testing it. Yugyeom looked really upset as he got up to leave without saying anything. BamBam followed quickly.

“Jaebum hyung,” Jackson said, “that was uncalled for. Everyone has been worried about you.” Jackson hardly ever got mad about anything but when he was mad he wouldn’t back down. Jaebum knew this about him. They were opposites in how they handled their tempers.

“I don’t want people worrying about me,” Jaebum replied, “I am fine on my own.” He was sick of everyone trying to push their way into his life like he was some broken pitiful charity case. He knew he could handle it all if he just got time on his own.

“No you’re not,” Jackson replied, “no one is. We all need each other. You’re our leader but that doesn’t mean we can’t help you too. You’ve been like this since Jinyoung left; you know it, I know it and so does everyone else.” Jaebum was annoyed. Jackson was pushing at things he wasn’t ready to confront, that he didn’t want to talk about.

“Jackson drop it,” he said, his voice low. He didn’t want to talk about Jinyoung, he wanted to forget the other boy ever existed. He wanted to forget the good times and the bad times. Jackson raised his eyebrows, he knew he’d touched on a sore subject and Jaebum knew too well that he was right. Jinyoung leaving hit him hard.

"You know you do deserve to be angry," Jackson said, "you deserve to be furious so be that way, just don't take it out on the maknaes. They don't deserve that." He worked to stand up with his crutches.

"I'm sorry," Jaebum said, he didn't mean to be so short with them. He knew Jackson was right even though he didn’t want him to be. He was trying to work on his temper.

"I just need more time," he said softly. He knew he didn't have time. Their projected debut date would be coming very soon, he would have to be better for all of them. That was what hit him hardest, he lacked the time to get himself together. 

"We're here Jaebum," Jackson replied, "all of us are. We're a team now, you have to see that."

"Yeah," Jaebum scoffed, they were a team till things went wrong. Together till things fell apart, then they'd leave too. He was tired of thinking it would be different this time. What was so different about this time? That he had more to lose, that they'd all leave him.

Jackson left shortly after and Jaebum looked around and couldn't see Rainy anywhere. He panicked for a second when he noticed Nora watching his trash can. He walked over to find that Rainy was sitting inside of it next to the album. He meowed when Jaebum found him, his little eyes looked frightened.

"Come on little guy," Jaebum said, "it's okay, I'm not angry anymore." He reached down and lifted the cat out of the trash can. Rainy meowed looking down towards the single and squirmed as if he could get down to it. Jaebum sighed and picked it up. It was an unusual sort of toy for a cat to want, but Rainy wasn’t ordinary. 

"What has gotten into you?" He asked. Could he wish to know? Maybe he could make a wish to figure out what made Rainy so special. The sun was setting, it was still early.

"I need to find out more don't I?" Jaebum asked Rainy. He watched carefully and the little kitten nodded. It was confusing that the cat could understand him. "Why do you want me to open this?" He asked but the kitten could only nod, he couldn’t respond with words. The kitten meowed in response, he sighed. That wouldn't help unless he could wish to be able to understand cats. He wasn’t so sure he wanted to make himself more abnormal than he already was.

So Jaebum got out his phone and started searching. He typed in the words, kitten and wishes first before getting more direct on what he was seeing.

“Found kitten who grants wishes,” was what he typed next. He still wasn't sure if the kitten granted them or just... He really didn't know anything about them just that since he had found Rainy everytime he wished in front of the cat his wishes came true. He searched for quite a bit and found nothing for a long time, till he came across a strange website.

"Wishing Cats, the History of the Coveted Fairies"

He wondered what it meant so he opened it. According to the site wishing cats appeared once a generation, always black. Wishing cats could grant any wish as long as it didn't alter fate, he wasn’t sure what that meant. Jaebum read further till the website gave him nothing else, there was contact info at the end. He took a screenshot of the contact info, if he couldn’t learn anything else he believed maybe it would lead him to answers.

He researched a bit more using some of the words, he wondered what it meant to alter fate, within myths and fairytales. He didn't really find anything he could understand, he sighed and in that time Rainy had fallen asleep in his lap. He was still so small and frail, Jaebum wondered about how his wishes worked.

He wondered more about if Rainy wouldn’t have survived out there much longer. He was tiny when Jaebum had found him. He was getting some weight on him with the couple days of actually eating. He seemed to like being with Jaebum. He was glad he had picked him up, he would have kept him without the wishes. He decided to take the rest of they day to rest while he could. The next day would probably be crazy. 

Maybe he could wish to debut without the showcase, or wish for the ability to never mess up a dance routine again. He wasn’t sure if those altered fate in any way. He hated not fully understanding what was in front of him. He wished there was an easier way to know. That contact number was certainly interesting but he was wary about telling anyone about Rainy just yet. Maybe he could pass it off as research, there were some old fairy tales he remembered where things quickly went wrong.

“I wish I had the information I need,” Jaebum decided to simply wish for help in understanding his predicament. He hoped that wish wouldn’t alter fate. It wasn’t immediate, none of the wishes were, but soon enough there was a book on his bed. That book looked old, he was a bit in shock that it had appeared. He picked it up carefully and opened the first pages.

“Beware the curse...”

“The curse of the wishing cats...” 

He was unsure what it was talking about. What curse? He wondered if he should even be wishing for anything at all?

“What are you Rainy?” He asked. He stroked the kitten’s head and leaned back against his bed as he read the next inscription.

“You have 30 days to reverse the curse.”

“From the moment you find a wishing cat the countdown begins.”

The moment? He had found Rainy 3 days before, maybe 4? He was trying to figure out how many it was and he wondered what happened at the end of 30 days? His mind was buzzing and he knew he was getting ahead of himself overthinking it.

“Fate should not be altered, the curse is now fate.”

“The only way to change course is through the name...”

“The name of the one who caused it.”

He didn’t know what anything meant, what curse was fate. What name did it speak of? Nothing made any sense to him. Suddenly Jaebum was scared of what he had gotten himself into. Rainy had chosen him and now he was cursed? All he had done was a good deed. He had rescued a starving kitten. He hadn’t meant any harm by wishing for the rain to stop or bringing the cat home.

“The consequences of failure is devastating loss and the opposite of every wish.”

Opposite? So everything would turn the opposite? How many things had he wished for? Food and dance practice being cancelled? Would he never see his parents on Christmas again? Would it always be raining?

Devastating loss?

All cause he had taken home the wrong kitten? Had he’d failed so spectacularly just beause he couldn’t resist a cute baby cat? The cat didn’t come with a manual to warn him away. Since he had wished for this knowledge would it be gone too? Would he just lose it and never know why he was stuck the way he was for eternity? He was frustrated by what he was reading. He had to find the name of the one who caused it. Wasn’t that him? Didn’t he cause it?

He had wished for the rain to stop and that’s when it all began. The book in his hand wasn’t long, each page contained a few sentences. He wished there was more information but the language was vague all around. It had to be crazy, it couldn’t be real. He put the book under his bed and laid back. Rainy jumped up on him and meowed again and Jaebum watched as Rainy jumped off of him towards the album again. He sighed, Rainy kept pushing the same thing and he didn’t know why.

His day was getting worse and worse. The cat had brought a curse, now he didn’t know what was going to happen. The cat could understand him and was trying to make him relive memories he wanted no part of. Was it fair of him to blame Rainy for the mess he was in?

“Okay,” Jaebum said, “I’ll open it.”

Rainy meowed again as Jaebum picked it up and tore through the shrink wrap. He opened it quickly and the photobook fell out along with a photocard and a folded up piece of paper. He knew it wasn’t right, the paper wasn’t an official item.

He picked up the photocard and it was of Jinyoung, in that stupid outfit with his hair sticking straight up. Jaebum had been skeptical about some of the styles but Jinyoung had told him just to feel the concept. On the back of the photocard he found Jinyoung’s signature. Jinyoung must have packed this himself and shrink wrapped it again. He hadn’t ever seen the book but the more interesting thing in the box was the folded up sheet of paper. A letter? He unfolded it and on it was a short message signed from Jinyoung.

“Why would you want me to open this?” He asked. He didn’t know why he was talking to a cat. He leaned his head back and blinked he was going crazy. He felt Rainy touching him and looked. The kitten pushed his head against Jaebum’s hand. So Jaebum looked and the letter and decided to read it.

_Hyung,_

_It doesn’t matter how things turned out, they still believe in us. We’ll get our second chance, we’ll be there side by side. Whatever group they put us in will conquer the whole world._

_I believe in you too. We’re about to belong to something bigger than just us. Don’t be afraid, put everything into the dreams we set out to achieve._

_Jinyoung_

He read it over and over and over. He didn’t understand what he was reading, it made no sense. Jaebum had tears in his eyes because it made no fucking sense. Why would he say this then leave? Why would he write this then throw his dreams away?

He looked at the kitten and wondered if this was a clue. Maybe Rainy was telling him that he needed to find Jinyoung. He needed to find out why he’d left so he could bring him back… It was crazy, absolutely insane but it was all he had. He knew Jinyoung’s hometown and his address, he could go back. The option of wishing Jinyoung here was out there but he didn’t want to force him into this that way. Jaebum knew which wishes to make so that he could get what he wanted.

He picked up his phone and texted Mark.

_I need your help._

He didn’t want to travel all the way there alone. Mark and Jinyoung were friends too, maybe having Mark there would help him stay calm if Jinyoung was upset. Mark would be a good buffer between them. They’d never had one when they disagreed as part of JJ Project.

“Okay,” Jaebum said. He stood up and thought through what he needed. “I wish for the day off tomorrow and I wish for the funds necessary for two to take a day trip to Jinhae, and I wish for some beef.” Like clockwork the beef appeared within a few minutes and Rainy didn’t jump up to eat it like he normally did he looked at Jaebum. It was almost as if he was asking to go with him.

“It’s a long way little guy,” he scratched the kitten’s ears and he purred in response, “I’ll have BamBam come and check on you and Nora,” Mark responded asking what it was and Jaebum responded.

_We’re going to bring Jinyoung back._

He didn’t check his phone after that, he spent the rest of the day reading.

************

The next say their schedule was cancelled but the reason for it scared Jaebum. Management wanted to meet to discuss their timeline moving forward and if they were going to continue to invest in the group... Jaebum was left sitting outside management office, told to leave.

He was dismissed for the day, they would call him when they needed him. Mark was the one who came and found him. He was almost reluctant to leave even with his plan in place.

“What did that stuff you sent mean?” Mark asked him, “we’re going to bring Jinyoung back?”

“Yeah,” Jaebum said, “stupid I know...” He wished it was easier. He didn’t even know why Jinyoung had left. They’d fought often, he was always pushing himself too hard. They’d been pushed together so young, it was natural that they didn’t always get along. Jaebum knew going to bring him back was probably a bad idea. They had no idea why he’d left in the first place. What if he’d had a legitimate reason?

“It’s not stupid,” Mark replied, “what is your plan?” Jaebum had checked, he had the funds to take them both there. They had the day off, they were free and able to go.

“We need to go to Jinhae,” Jaebum replied, “we can get there and back in a day, we have the day off, I can pay for it.” 

“Would it be just us going?” Mark asked him. Jaebum nodded, he didn’t want anyone else involved.

“We need to at least tell the others,” Mark said.

“Tell them whatever you want,” Jaebum replied, “but if we’re really doing this we have to leave soon.” The trip to Jinhae was a long one, hard to accomplish within a single day but they needed to be back before it got too late.

“If we do this,” Mark replied, “it’s because I think it will help you, if you don’t shape up after this you’ll owe me one.” It was a fair trade.

“Deal,” Jaebum said and they went back to the dorm together. They asked all the others to gather in Jaebum’s room where Jaebum showed them the letter Jinyoung left.

“It definitely doesn’t sound like he wanted to leave,” Jackson declared, “something must have happened.” That was why Jaebum needed to go after him. Rainy was laying in BamBam’s lap and Youngjae was sitting closest to the door more confused about everything than anyone else. They didn’t have time to catch him up on everything. He knew about Jinyoung but had never met him.

The others agreed Jaebum and Mark should both go. As Jaebum and Mark got up to leave Rainy jumped off BamBam’s lap to follow. Jaebum looked back at him as he meowed and jumped up towards him. He bent down to pick up the kitten.

“You can’t come with us,” Jaebum said to him. He realized he was talking to the cat like the cat could understand him in front of his friends.

“Why not?” Mark asked, “he’s clearly attached to you.”

“What if he gets lost?” Jaebum asked. He was so small Jaebum worried he would run off and they wouldn’t be able to find him. Rainy meowed again and pushed his head against Jaebum’s arm.

“I’ll help you keep an eye on him,” Mark replied, “and we can put him in my backpack if we’re busy.” Jaebum didn’t like the sound of that, Rainy was still so small and he knew putting him in a backpack was a bad plan. Jaebum would just carry him.

“Okay,” Jaebum scratched his ears causing him to pur. He seemed to like that spot. “So you only have Nora to check up on Bam.”

“Okay hyung,” he replied. Jaebum knew Bam loved the cats and that he would take good care of Nora. The two of them set out to the station, it was a 3 hour journey south to get to Jinhae.

They hoped to be there before the afternoon. Then they would try to find Jinyoung before the sun set. Once the sun set they would return. As they walked Rainy fell to sleep in Jaebum’s arms. He began to realize Rainy seemed dejected about something. Maybe coming would cheer him up. The curse wasn’t the kitten’s fault, he was just a baby who was caught up in all this. 

Jaebum loved how he could feel his little heartbeat in his hand and how soft his fur was. He was glad he had brought him home even if they were in an odd situation. He had no idea what to do.

The nice thing about Mark as a traveling companion was that he was very quiet. It allowed Jaebum to take time to think through the problems they faced and to try and find a solution. If the opposite of every wish came true now they would never get a day off again. Or they would never have enough money to travel to Jinhae.

He hoped this whole trip did something not only for Jinyoung but for this whole curse. Mark fell asleep on the journey and Jaebum watched their country fly by. Jinyoung had come so far for his dream, what drove him home?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think so far, leave a friendly comment. Thanks. The next chapters should come soon. I want to finish this one fast.


	3. The Cursed One

Jinhae was cold and it seemed like snow was going to fall early when they arrived. Jaebum kept Rainy in his jacket, the kitten didn’t protest in any way, he was probably colder than Jaebum was. Jaebum used his phone to direct them through the town towards the house.

They were going to the house Jinyoung grew up in. Jaebum shivered in the cold even in mid day. It wasn’t a long way from the station not with how long the journey had been, it felt like a short trip in comparison. The trees had all shed their leaves, they would blossom forth with flowers in the spring but at the moment the season was dark. Spring would come soon, but not soon enough.

He started to feel nervous realizing he was about to see Jinyoung again. Jinyoung had left with no explanation; what if he didn’t want to see them again?

He had been so focused on the task at hand because of what was going on. He felt this was something he had to do, even if he didn’t know what to say once he got there. How could he ask Jinyoung to come back with him? What if Jinyoung had no answers as to what was going on with Rainy and the curse.

He wondered if whatever reason Jinyoung had for leaving was important.

The found the house.

He took a deep breath and stopped on the street to start up at the house but Mark kept walking to the door without him. Jaebum’s eyes widened as Mark knocked. He didn’t think he was ready, but he was glad Mark was taking initiative. He walked quickly to join him at the door. The door opened and Jaebum recognized Jinyoung’s mother. She looked tired and answered with confusion.

“Hello Mrs. Park,” Mark greeted her, “I’m Mark.” He held out a hand to introduce himself.

“Jaebum?” He eyes settled on him. Of course she knew him, she had been there the day they had auditioned and won together. She had been there the for their debut, she had sent food so many times as they promoted and toured.

“Hi,” he said, he wasn’t sure what to say.

“What are you boys doing all the way out here?” She asked them.

“We’re here to see Jinyoung,” Jaebum said, he stepped forward. He had to see him. Rainy moved in his jacket and meowed.

“Why would you come all the way out here to see him?” She asked the statement was confusing until she said the next part, “Jinyoung’s in Seoul.” Seoul? He never left? How? He had left the company and gone home, that was what Jaebum had been told.

“He’s in Seoul?” Jaebum raised his eyebrows. Jinyoung had gone home. He had to have gone home. If he was still in Seoul did that mean he’d switched companies?

*******

Jinyoung wasn’t in Jinhae. He had never left Seoul. His mother wasn’t worried that he hadn’t contacted her, yet she seemed very happy and didn’t react to Jaebum and Mark not knowing where he was. It was strange, Jaebum didn’t understand it.

Jaebum watched the fields go by on their way back home. Mark was pensive and lost in thought as well. Rainy was completely out of sorts from what Jaebum could tell. The traveling had been difficult on the small animal.

He had jumped out of Jaebum’s coat and ran to Jinyoung’s mother when they stood in the door way. He had cried relentlessly when Jaebum had taken him away and he had apologized when they had left. He still wasn’t over the fact that his kitten would cry like he did. Rainy was too expressive, it was crazy.

“He never left?” Mark finally spoke, “that makes no sense given what we were told.” Jaebum agreed.

“We need to ask around for him,” Jaebum said, “he might have gone to another company like…”

“Jaebum,” Mark interrupted him his voice low, “he wouldn’t do that.” Jaebum wasn’t sure but he wanted to believe that Mark was right. Jaebum couldn’t believe that Jinyoung would do that. He wouldn’t, he couldn’t.

“He had to have,” Jaebum said despite what he had just thought. As bad as Jinyoung switching companies was, the thought that he was in Seoul alone without something like that… Jaebum worried he had gotten himself into trouble and they would never find him.

“Jaebum,” Mark replied, “we have to find him fast.” Mark looked worried. Rain started falling where they were. Jaebum hadn’t noticed it till Rainy sat up and looked out the window. The cat began to cry again and he curled more into Jaebum’s sweater.

“What is with this kitten?” Mark asked him.

“He’s scared of the rain,” Jaebum said. He pulled Rainy close to him and scratched his ears in comfort until he fell asleep. 

When they made it back Mark got everyone else together to explain and told Jaebum to go get Rainy to his dorm room then to meet them in his and Jackson’s room. Jaebum was exhausted, it was a long day traveling that far and back. He wanted to talk to the others the next day instead. He really needed to sleep.

When he put Rainy down the kitten ran around the place as if searching for something. He was probably antsy from not moving much all day. Nora came out and walked to Jaebum who knelt down to pet her head. He looked up to see Rainy’s teeth in the JJ Project album and the kitten was dragging it over to him again. He didn’t understand what Rainy was trying to say and it was frustrating.

Rainy did something next Jaebum didn’t expect he used his claws to lift the top of the album open and then scratched and pulled the bottom open. The bottom had a picture of Jinyoung. The kitten sat right next to it & tapped it with his paw. Jaebum was so confused and kinda freaked out by how strange his cat was.

“Yes that’s Jinyoung,” Jaebum said, “that’s who we’re looking for,” Rainy looked frustrated, he was going crazy, his cat looked frustrated. Rainy tapped it again, and again and Jaebum saw an earnestness in his eyes. Was he insisting they really needed to find Jinyoung immediately? 

“I wish Jinyoung was here,” Jaebum spoke words he felt would fix everything. Even if he didn’t want to drag Jinyoung there with a wish it was to a point where he had to know what was going on.

He waited and sat back and nothing happened and Rainy shook his little head and huffed. He tapped the picture again and meowed multiple times.

Maybe that wish would alter fate… Maybe that’s why Jinyoung didn’t appear…

It was crazy, this whole thing was crazy but Rainy, Jaebum looked into Rainy’s eyes as they started at him… Rainy was saying so much with his eyes, his brown eyes. They were an odd shade for a cat. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t...

He wondered how he hadn’t ever considered… no that was insane. The cat’s brown eyes were just an odd feature, it didn’t mean anything. He should focus on the fact that he could wish. Rainy tapped again and meowed

Had Rainy run out in front of him that day on purpose? Rainy knew something, the cat’s eyes were expressive and Jaebum felt the look in them was familiar. Maybe the wish didn’t come true because…

“Jinyoung?” Jaebum asked, he needed to get to a hospital and get his health checked. There was no way his cat was Jinyoung. And he nearly fainted when Rainy nodded.

“Wait,” Jaebum backed up a bit in shock, he stuttered out his words, “y-y-you-you’re Jinyoung?” It couldn’t be. It would explain everything and nothing all at once. It would explain why he left but maybe it was all a lie and he hadn’t left. Maybe he’d just disappeared! He was a cat! Rainy nodded again and Jaebum’s eyes widened. How had he? This wasn’t real. He felt more than ever that he was either lost in a dream or this was some elaborate hidden camera.

“I wish for you to be able to speak in Korean,” Jaebum said realized that single wish could solve this whole thing. Jinyoung was Rainy...

“Hi,” the kitten said and Jaebum jumped, he has wished for it but it was... He was actually talking. 

“You’re Jinyoung?” He asked again in shock.

“Yes,” Jinyoung replied and Jaebum was surprised his voice sounded just like Jinyoung’s. Jaebum hit himself in the head, he was dreaming or going insane or someone had drugged him. This was some twisted dream, or joke. His best friend wasn’t the starving kitten he found in the rain.

“I am Jinyoung,” Jinyoung said as if he could tell what Jaebum was thinking.

“What the hell?” Jaebum really felt like he was going to faint.

“If you weren’t so thick skulled you would have wished for me to speak day one,” Jinyoung said to him, “it was the most obvious wish there was!”

“Wha-What happened to you?” Jaebum was still freaked out. The kitten was Jinyoung the whole time and it freaked him out.

“It’s a long story,” Jinyoung replied, “but the condensed version is I made the wrong cat fairy angry. Now I need your help, or else I’m going to die!”

“Die?” Jaebum said, “wha-why? How? What the hell? Why would anyone want you to die- Fairies aren’t real!” He was ignoring the most obvious thing in what was going on. Magic couldn’t be real, fairies couldn’t be real. But he’d seen the wishes in action, and his best friend was a cat. Jinyoung scoffed.

“Wishes aren’t real either,” Jinyoung said what Jaebum was thinking, “and people don’t turn into cats. Being a cat actually sucks by the way, it’s the worst curse ever. I was on the streets for weeks and I already almost died like 12 times... cars are monsters and their drivers are worse!”

“What did you do?” Jaebum was still in too much shock that the kitten he’d been coddling was Jinyoung.

“I had to eat out of trashcans,” Jinyoung declared, “and I got attacked by children and bigger cats, and the rain was the worst thing...”

“No,” Jaebum cut him off, “what did you do that got you cursed?” Jinyoung looked away from Jaebum. 

“It wasn’t my fault,” Jinyoung replied, “cat fairies are pretentious. I met a bunch of others who were cursed by them. Not everyone gets the wishing cat curse, this one is bad.”

“Jinyoung you still haven’t answered what you did,” Jaebum said. He was still trying to wrap his head around what was happening.

“What is more important is this curse is extremely difficult to reverse,” Jinyoung replied, “I spent weeks trying to find you, I knew you can’t resist a pitiful stray. Mark or Jackson would have just walked on. We need to find the fairy that cursed me, the one who changed my fate.”

“Okay,” Jaebum replied, “we have a few weeks, we can do this. I will tell the others..”

“No!” Jinyoung said, “we can’t tell anyone! Now wish for the cat fairy to come here so we can ask her name!” Wish for the pretentious cat fairy to come here at that moment? Jaebum wasn’t sure.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Jaebum asked. If the fairy who cursed Jinyoung to die, what if she was angry and cursed Jaebum as well. Then they would be completely lost.

“We need her name!” Jinyoung said, “without her name we can’t fix this.”

“We have time,” Jaebum replied, “we have quite a bit of time!” They had a bit over twenty days to figure it out.

“No we don’t!” Jinyoung replied, “the thirty day countdown was for me! It’s already been twenty-four days!”

“No it says thirty days from when you find a wishing cat,” Jaebum replied, “meaning we have like twenty-four more days to go! I just found you a few days ago!”

“Twenty-four days until your wishes cause a mess. Six for me. I only have sox days left,” Jinyoung reiterated, “you have more to get out of your part of it, before your wishes are reversed. But I only have 6 days until I don’t wake up again.”Jaebum felt his heart pounding, they couldn’t do it in six days. It was impossible to fix it in that amount of time and he didn’t want Jinyoung to die.

“Then we have to do something,” Jaebum said, “but wishing her here is dangerous...”

“Nora,” Jinyoung said the other cats name and he jumped over to where she was laying and started meowing. Nora meowed back. Jaebum’s jaw dropped, Jinyoung was talking to his cat. His best friend was a cat and was talking to a cat.His best friend was a cat and had been sleeping on his chest the past couple nights. His best friend was s cat and had watched him throw the maknae’s out over the JJ Project album. His best friend was a cat who knew what a mess he lived in, who watched him lay about and do nothing with his days off.

Nora was talking to Jinyoung. Nora and Jinyoung were talking to each other and could understand each other. He needed a drink, some way out of the nightmare he was living.

“I wish for this insanity to end,” Jaebum whined as he fell back on his bed. Jinyoung turned around and growled at him, his best friend growled at him.

“You idiot!” Jinyoung shouted, “you can’t just wish for things! You don’t know the consequences those wishes could bring!” 

“Yet you want me to wish for a pretentious fairy to come here?” Jaebum asked.

But Jaebum saw something behind his eyes and behind his anger and frustrations. Jinyoung was scared, he was very scared and the truth was Jaebum was as well. They had six days to fix this or the best friend he just got back wouldn’t be living anymore.

“Jinyoung,” Jaebum said, “you left more than 30 days ago.” He realized that important detail he’d missed before. “Why did you leave?” Jinyoung looked like he was going to cry again, as a kitten he cried so pitifully multiple times since Jaebum had found him. Jaebum reached a hand out for him.

“We’re going to fix this,” Jaebum said, “I know we are.” Jinyoung walked back over to him but Jaebum didn’t stroke his ears. It was odd, he’d been petting Jinyoung. It was kind embarrassing how he’d been treating Jinyoung like a little kitten, but he was a little kitten at the moment. He didn’t act like he wanted Jaebum to stop petting him, maybe there was some instinct that came with becoming a cat.

Jaebum reached over and pet behind his ears. Jinyoung began purring in response. His best friend was cursed and he had to fix it.

“Jinyoung there has to be another way,” Jaebum told him, “we have a bit of time. I’ll find that way, I promise.” 

“I’m sorry I dragged you into this,” Jinyoung responded, he looked more afraid with those words sitting in front of Jaebum as a cat..

“I am glad you did,” Jaebum replied, because even if all what was happening was crazy he wanted to do everything to fix it. He would find a way to fix Jinyoung. “Let’s go to sleep, we’ll figure out more in the morning.”

“Are you going to wish for your practices to be cancelled again?” Jinyoung asked. He had forgotten about the stuff said to him over the cancellation earlier in the day. He could hurt their debut if he kept wishing for it.

“I can’t,” Jaebum told him, “the boys are depending on this debut, I am supposed to be leading. I can’t keep hurting our chances.” Jinyoung looked sad but he nodded.

“I’ll read the book while you’re gone,” Jinyoung replied, “and I’ll look for a clue or another idea to fix it.”

“Okay,” Jaebum said, he was at a loss. He needed more info. They could talk more in the morning. Jaebum realized he had forgotten the others were waiting for him, he checked his phone and Mark had texted him.

Mark: _Where are you?_  
Mark: _I told everyone to go to bed_  
Mark: _You better have a good explanation_  
Mark: _Everyone is worried about you_

That was the last message. Jaebum sighed he was tired of people worrying about him. Now it was his turn to worry about Jinyoung.

“What is it?” Jinyoung asked.

“Nothing,” Jaebum replied, he texted Mark back.

JB: _Sorry, I was tired. Goodnight. ___

__Jaebum walked to the side of the room and began moving his clothes all together in a pile. He was going to make a soft place for Jinyoung to sleep. He wasn’t sure why but it felt strange to have Jinyoung sleep on his chest like he had been._ _

__“What are you doing?” Jinyoung asked him._ _

__“I’m making you a bed,” Jaebum replied as be successfully pushed them all together into a little mountain and flattened the top of it. Jinyoung meowed, it sounded grumpy._ _

__“Wae?” Jinyoung asked, “I’m not sleeping on your dirty laundry.” He jumped up on Jaebum’s bed and laid down stubbornly._ _

__“It’s clean,” Jaebum protested._ _

__“Then why is it on the floor?” Jinyoung whined._ _

__“I’ve been busy!” Jaebum declared._ _

__“Not to busy, you had yesterday off and you did nothing,” he knew Jinyoung would have noticed that._ _

__“Jinyoung the point is it’s clean, you can sleep here,” Jaebum said and Jinyoung side eyed him before jumping down onto the floor._ _

__“I’m still not sleeping there,” Jinyoung said, “and for the record you never gave me a bath. A warm bath was the first thing you should have done! I’m pretty sure I have fleas, I’ve been on the streets for over 3 weeks! It was torture.”_ _

__“Nora hates baths,” Jaebum replied, “I didn’t want to scare you on your first night here!” All the cats he knew hated baths._ _

__“Well can you give me a bath now?” Jinyoung asked him._ _

__“You’ll be wet and freezing all night,” Jaebum replied._ _

__“Not if you let me sleep in your bed,” Jinyoung said, “it’s very warm.” Jaebum sighed and threw his head back, he was arguing with Jinyoung over nothing. Jinyoung always knew how to win arguments. It was one of the reasons Jaebum would give him the silent treatment often when they were promoting together. He knew getting into an argument meant he would lose._ _

__“Fine,” Jaebum said, he lifted Jinyoung up fast and walked to the bathroom. He set him down in the shower and realized it was going to look, sound and feel like rain. Was Jinyoung really scared of rain or were there other reasons behind his strange crying? He was curious and more than a little annoyed with how Jinyoung was phrasing things. Jinyoung looked up at him confused. Jaebum turned it on. Jinyoung started shaking as the spray of water hit him and he moved out of it abruptly, squealing as he jumped away._ _

__“The bath not the shower!” Jinyoung said, his voice wasn’t demanding but frantic. Jaebum turned it off._ _

__“Sorry your highness,” he retorted. Jaebum reached over and turned the bath water down low and got Nora’s cat shampoo out. He noted how Jinyoung did look shaken, he wondered what had happened to him out there. Weeks alone, fearing for his life. He was quippy about it but underneath that he was very much afraid and he had reason to be. They had six days to save his life._ _

__“Jinyoung what really happened out there?” Jaebum asked. Jinyoung shook his head and remained silent, he wasn’t going to talk about it. Jaebum sighed and knew Jinyoung couldn’t do any of this on his own. He reached down gently to move the water over his tiny form. Jinyoung still didn’t say anything._ _

__Jaebum poured the shampoo in his hand and began to massage it into Jinyoung’s fur. It was awkward, strange, and kinda funny in an ironic way._ _

__“Jinyoung you can talk to me,” Jaebum replied, “whatever happened, whatever you know.” They were best friends, talking shouldn’t be hard. Jinyoung said nothing more. Jaebum finished bathing him and wrapped him up in a towel._ _

__That night he kept Jinyoung close to him, it had seemed weird before which was why he wanted him to sleep on his clean laundry. Now he was beginning to see Jinyoung felt safer near him after all that had happened to him. He wouldn’t even let Jaebum go to Jinhae without inviting upon going with him. He’d cried when he’d seen his mother and had been unable to speak to her._ _

__Jaebum couldn’t imagine what it was he had gone through but he knew one thing. A cat fairy had done this to his best friend. Had turned him into a small creature and left him to fend for himself while knowing he had a time limit before he died. Of course he was frightened. Jaebum realized he felt better holding onto him because he was scared he would slip away again. He was scared he couldn’t fix Jinyoung but he would not give up. He now knew his best friend hadn’t left him willingly and that knowledge comforted him._ _

__*********_ _

__The next day dance practice was cancelled again and all the boys were sent to a meeting room and told to wait there. Jaebum was confused as two hours had passed and their manager had only come in to bring them food. No one knew what was going on. He had too many worries in his brain._ _

__“Do you think we’re getting broken up?” Yugyeom asked, his voice quiet and shaking. The amount of time passing was actually frightening. They wouldn’t do that so soon with no warning._ _

__“It’ll be okay,” Jackson said, “they can’t break us up if we haven’t debuted yet.”_ _

__“Yes they can,” Youngjae said._ _

__“They won’t,” Jackson insisted, “everything is going to be fine.” Jaebum caught Mark’s eye and he could see the elder was looking at him expectantly. This was where he should say something and reassure them, but he opened his mouth to speak and nothing came out._ _

__Everyone was so frightened and the only answer he has wasn’t certain. He couldn’t tell them what he was thinking. Wishes, he could make the wishes they needed to fix whatever was going on, and then he could fix Jinyoung and everything would be okay._ _

__“It will all work out,” Jaebum said to them. He got up._ _

__“Where are you going?” Jackson demanded._ _

__“I’ll be back soon,” Jaebum said._ _

__“If they come and you’re gone we’ll all get in trouble,” Mark told him. The eldest of them actually looked angry with him. He understood why they would be upset but there was no way he could explain._ _

__“I have to do this,” Jaebum said, “I’ll be back fast!” Jaebum rushed out of the room before they could protest again and ran. He could wish everything back on track then fix everything with Jinyoung. He just needed the next few days to find the answer._ _

__There was no other option anyway, he wasn’t letting Jinyoung disappear so he would put everything on the line for him. He made it back to the dorm and found Jinyoung asleep on the book with the curse details. He was curled up and so tiny. t was still so odd. His best friend was that tiny kitten and they had five days left._ _

__“I wish for our groups debut to continue as planned,” Jaebum said first._ _

__“I wish for the all of us to make it,” Jaebum said, “I wish no one gets in trouble for me leaving the meeting, I wish for the next 5 days off with no consequences to debut.” He needed all the time he could get to fix Jinyoung. On the last wish he noticed Jinyoung had woken up._ _

__“Don’t stake your future on me,” Jinyoung spoke after a few moments of silence and staring. Jaebum shook his head._ _

__“I have to,” Jaebum replied. He had to risk everything. He had to let the cost rise so high there was no other option but them winning. He needed that to be the truth._ _

__“Jinyoung you need to tell me everything you know,” Jaebum said, “every single detail of what happened. I am not letting this curse win.” Jinyoung sat up._ _

__“I don’t know the answers,” Jinyoung told him, “I just know we need the fairies name.” Jaebum knew there was more. Jaebum knew the impossible could happen. He sat down and leaned forward to touch Jinyoung’s head._ _

__“I wish to see his memories of what led to this,” Jaebum said fast and Jinyoung’s eyes widened. He whined but things shifted and suddenly Jaebum couldn’t see anymore._ _

__END SCENE_ _

___“You want to see his memories?”_ A voice spoke to him in the darkness. He was moving through a black space of time._ _

___“You know nothing of this world.”_ A voice, a female voice._ _

__“I want to know more,” Jinyoung’s voice spoke next. “That’s why I read so much.” He couldn’t see but suddenly he could. Jinyoung was in a bookstore talking to an older woman who stood with a stack of books in her hands._ _

__“Reading alone can’t teach you everything,” she said, “experience is the best teacher.” Jinyoung smiled politely to her._ _

__“If you ever find you can’t find the answers in your books,” she said, “simply call the number on the back of the one you’re holding.” She smiled and walked away. Jinyoung did nothing but continue to browse. He placed the book she had gestured to back on the shelf. Jinyoung left. The memory shifted back to Jinyoung training alongside Jaebum. The perspective was different. He could hear Jinyoung’s thoughts._ _

___He’s always so angry._ Jinyoung was watching Jaebum. _He never talks to me anymore. Why is he so angry, we are going to get a chance._ Jaebum hadn’t known Jinyoung had ever thought like that._ _

__“Jinyoung stop daydreaming and get up,” one if the choreography teachers called on him. And that was when Jaebum remembered this day. Jinyoung got in line with the other trainees. The teacher began to tear his form apart verbally. Jaebum had gotten angry and left class because he didn’t like the way the instructor had talked to Jinyoung. He hadn’t known really what happened after. Jinyoung noticed him leaving._ _

___Why is he leaving? Does he agree that I’m failing? Maybe he thinks I’m the reason JJ Project failed._ _ _

__He watched Jinyoung being singled out despite doing the best job out of any of them. Jinyoung did falter, it took a lot of verbal abuse to finally make him mess up. Jinyoung’s ankle twisted on one of the steps. He toppled over and the teacher demanded for him to get back up._ _

__He had been angry when he had heard that Jinyoung had gotten hurt. He was called up by management for his own behavior in storming out of a training session. He hadn’t been there to see Jinyoung get up and keep going even when he was so obviously hurt. That dance teacher had been let go after the incident, Jaebum had personally made sure of it. Jaebum had still felt guilty for a long time for leaving and not staying to stand up for Jinyoung. He’d blamed himself for it happening._ _

__Jinyoung danced but he couldn’t keep up, in pain and he fell again. He got up again after being demanded to do so. But he couldn’t stand, he had sprained his ankle then further damaged it. Someone intervened and they took him to a hospital. The memories shifted to that, Jinyoung being driven to the hospital by their former manager. He was angry too, Jaebum remembered he was the one who had found Jaebum and told him what happened._ _

__Their manager had always felt it was unfair that JJ Project was unceremoniously put back in training. Their video had gone viral, they were considered a promising act for JYP Entertainment’s future but none of that mattered. They were pulled anyways._ _

__The scene changed again. Jinyoung was back in the bookstore from before on crutches. Their manager was with him._ _

__“Jinyoung you can go home on break if you wan to,” his manager said._ _

__“I know,” Jinyoung replied, “but I have to stay, I have to keep training for re-debut.”_ _

__“Jinyoung,” he said, “I would like you to go rest.”_ _

__“Jaebum needs me. They always put us together,” Jinyoung replied, it was completely different than his first answer. “The company said they want both of us for the next group. What if I take a break and they decided to drop both of us? I can’t let that happen.” Jinyoung was worried about the company dropping Jaebum because of him? Jinyoung was thinking through the books he was walking by when he came upon the shelf he was standing by before. Jaebum saw his hand go to the spine of the book he had put back._ _

__Jinyoung pulled it out and read the title in his mind. _Magic In Our World._ That was what the book was called._ _

__“I want this one,” Jinyoung said and his manager nodded in response._ _

__“You can read on your trip home to Jinhae,” the manager said, “just for a few days.”_ _

__“I am not changing my mind,” Jinyoung replied. _I’m staying.__ _

__It changed again. Jinyoung was reading the book and found it was about strange cases of missing people. There were descriptions of different fairies and different curses. Magic was described as real. Before experiencing his best friend becoming a cat Jaebum would have thought it was all nonsense. Jinyoung became bored with it halfway through and put it down. He didn't seem to pick it up again._ _

__He went to dance practice before he was fully healed. Jaebum remembered when he had come back, he seemed fine. Jaebum had thought Jinyoung was getting stronger and back on track but these were his memories. Jaebum could see and hear and understand he was not okay. He was fighting through the pain and forcing himself to keep pushing through it._ _

__He fought the pain because he wanted to debut again and wanted Jaebum to debut again. That wasn't the disposition of someone who would walk away. Jaebum felt guilty for ever thinking he had given up. The anger he had towards Jinyoung made him feel ashamed knowing what the younger went through. He spent most of his last two weeks there in pain, fighting for the dream._ _

__"You don't have a choice anymore," JInyoung's manager said to him in a later memory, "you're not getting better and at this rate you're going to risk serious injury. Do you want to lose your entire dream with your stubbornness?" Jinyoung was being told he had to take a break, the company was mandating it._ _

__“I have to keep going!” Jinyoung said._ _

__“No you don’t,” his manager told him, “It’s okay to rest. Everyone here understands, it will all work out...” Jinyoung didn’t believe him._ _

__It changed again. Jinyoung was in the train station and he had the book about magic with him. In it he found a strange incantation, the ability to make wishes._ _

__Jinyoung was searching for a way to make everything okay. His mind was frantic, he was scared his dreams wouldn’t come true. He blamed himself for the failure of JJ Project. He didn’t believe in magic but he was more and more curious as he read the book._ _

__He had left without saying goodbye. It was different then anything Jaebum had been told. He hadn’t left the company, he had left to rest but none of them had known he didn’t leave Seoul. His manager wasn’t with him, he left the train station instead of getting on the train. Jaebum watched him leave and head back into the city. There he got off a bus and walked toward a park and there he sat staring at people going by. His thoughts were jumbled and he wanted to go back to the dorm and back to training but he was being forced to take a break._ _

__Night fell and Jinyoung opened the book. There were tears in his eyes and he said the words the book told him to say. He was desperate for wishes to be granted. He read each word out loud as if clinging to them._ _

__He waited._ _

__Nothing happened._ _

__Jinyoung threw the book to the ground in frustration from all that had happened but the book didn’t hit the ground. The book hit a cat that was passing by. Jaebum was in shock as the cat squeaked and then looked at Jinyoung. She growled and then transformed into a woman, a beautiful woman dressed in a white glittering dress. Sparkling dust floated around her, Jinyoung was in shock._ _

__“I came to help you and this is how you repay me?” She asked angrily. Jinyoung’s eyes were wide, his mouth had dropped open._ _

__“I didn’t...” he tried to speak but she lifted her hand and he couldn’t say anything. In his mind Jaebum heard his thoughts screaming as he tried to speak but she had done something to him._ _

__“Because of your disrespect for the fates you shall be cursed to grant the wishes of one person whom you chose. Chose wisely,” she said, “for that person will also be the only one to free you. You have 30 days or you will be cursed to become nothing forever.” Jinyoung’s mind was screaming but Jaebum watched him transform and turn into a tiny kitten. He cried and cried and cried but he couldn’t speak. His cries only came out like a cats would._ _

__And it wasn’t over yet._ _

__She cast another spell to transport him deeper into the heart of Seoul to a place he couldn’t see. And as it was cast she cast more to remove him from JYPE, to make his parents complacent even when he stopped calling and to make many forget about him._ _

__And in the memories Jaebum watched Jinyoung stood on sidewalk, shaking and crying and it began to rain. Jinyoung’s mind was a mess trying to figure out what to do. The rain poured over him and the night was cold. He had nowhere to go. All he could do was wander and hope he could find his way back to someone he knew. He slept in the cold and rain that night._ _

__His mind was searching for answers when he realized he had to find Jaebum. So he set out as soon as he could but the memories didn’t end. Jaebum watched days where the rains kept coming and Jinyoung got thinner and thinner. His mind was worried he wouldn’t make it. There were many dangers around him, people, cars, other cats, other animals._ _

__He talked to other cats on the street, some attacked him. Others gave him information. He pieced everything together slowly. He needed the Cat Fairy’s name, he searched for her as well. One older cat told him if he found her name whatever wisher he chose could use it to free him. No one knew how._ _

__He had worries, worries that Jaebum wouldn’t take him home even if he did find him. He worried Jaebum wouldn’t wish for anything. That he couldn’t convince him to wish for anything or that he would have no way to tell Jaebum who he was..._ _

__He went through a lot on the streets but he found his way. The joy in him when he recognized a restaurant was palpable. A he wandered the rains had let up to less and less but it didn’t change that the experience was traumatic for him._ _

__The day he finally found the dorm the rains were heavy. There was no way in or shelter. He hid in the bushes to avoid people who weren’t Jaebum. Many had tried to pick him up over the past few weeks and he had stayed away. He sat in the rain shivering and trying not to cry when Jaebum finally appeared. He ran out just as Jaebum wished for the rain to stop. They stopped, his wishes were working. Jinyoung’s thoughts were screaming._ _

__“Jaebum it’s me,” he meowed and Jaebum bent down to pet him. The memories stopped._ _

__Darkness came again. That voice came again._ _

___“What would you give to free him?”_ _ _

__Jaebum’s eyes searched, he searched for her but the darkness faded and he was back in his room. Jinyoung was shaking, his brown eyes on Jaebum’s. Jaebum was in shock. It had actually worked._ _

__“We need that book...” Jaebum said as he breathed heavy from what felt like a crazy amount of exertion. His head was hurting. Jinyoung had curled up on the floor, he looked similarly exhausted and he looked tiny again._ _

__“You can wish for it,” Jinyoung said, “but that book has no answers and I don’t want to see it again...”_ _

__Jaebum’s phone suddenly started ringing. He pulled it out to see that his manager was calling him he answered quickly._ _

__“Hello?” He asked._ _

__“I have good news for you,” he sounded cheery._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ood at guessing everyone. Yes our little Rainy was Jinyoung. But how are they going to fix his fate?
> 
> Comment and let me know what you think about this chapter.


	4. Magic's Dark Hold

Jaebum’s wishes had all been granted, except one. Not like he’d expected.

“I wish for the book Magic In Our World,” Jaebum said. Jaebum believed that book held the key to freeing Jinyoung and fixing the mess they were in. The wish was granted but not how he expected. What appeared was a book called Magic In Our World but it was a different book. Jinyoung looked downcast, stretched across the floor with his head on his paws.

“It’s going to be okay,” Jaebum said to him as he thought about how to find the right book, “I wish for the book Magic in Our World that I saw in Jinyoung’s memories.” Nothing happened, the book didn’t appear but as he turned back with a sigh he saw a piece of paper on his bed. He walked to pick it up and found that on the piece of paper was an address.

“What is it?” Jinyoung asked. He sounded dejected, Jaebum understood how he was feeling.

“An address,” Jaebum replied, he wondered if it was the location of the book,.

“Jaebum,” Jinyoung sounded more frightened than anything, “you can’t go there.” He wondered why Jinyoung would say that when going was probably all they had. They didn’t have any other leads about how to fix things except Jinyoung’s plan to summon a fairy.

“Jinyoung...” he began to respond but there was a knock on his door. He put the paper down and answered it. It was Jackson and Mark.

“Jaebum what the hell was that?” Jackson asked, “you never came back when you said you would!”

“I was busy!” Jaebum defended he looked back at Jinyoung who shook his head. Jinyoung didn’t want to tell them for some reason and Jaebum knew it was probably important not to.

“Well good news we have the week off then we’re finally getting our debut song,” Jackson said.

“What were you busy with?” Mark asked he entered and walked straight to Jinyoung and picked him up. Jinyoung meowed, completely shut down and back to just being a tiny cat but Jaebum could still see his expressive eyes at work

“Just stuff,” Jaebum said, “it was important.” He knew they would assume it was stuff to do with the search for Jinyoung as that was something that was very much important to him at the moment.

“Well I texted Hyunwoo and asked if he had heard from Jinyoung,” Jackson said, “but he said the last time he heard from him was about a month ago.” Jaebum hadn’t really expected them to start a search without talking to him, but he knew he should have. They were both the kind of people to jump into action rather than waiting around. Jaebum took Jinyoung from Mark, he felt better keeping him close with all that had gone on.

“I actually think it’s best to leave it alone,” Jaebum replied, “maybe he joined a cult or something.” Jinyoung stuck a claw into his arm and he flinched for a second. He would have to remind Jinyoung that it was him who didn’t want to tell anyone he was right there.

“You can’t be serious,” Mark said, “we went all the way to Busan to find him and now you just don’t care.” 

“We have a debut coming up,” Jaebum replied, “we need to be focused.” It was exactly what they needed, focus on their future and he’d already found Jinyoung. Jackson smiled brightly.

“We’re actually debuting hyung!” Jackson said again.

“Yeah,” Jaebum said, “we are.” He would make sure they were now that he had staked wishes on it. He had to succeed in freeing Jinyoung and making their debut happen with Jinyoung as part of their group. Jinyoung twisted out of his arms and jumped to the ground, he landed gracefully in his feet like any cat would and trotted to Nora and started meowing. Jaebum was still feeling crazy watching his best friend able to communicate with his cat, it would never be okay.

“Well anyways,” Mark replied, “we came to check on you.”

“Yeah,” Jackson said, “you keep acting weird and leaving and everything you do makes no sense anymore. We’re a team and we’re going on a team lunch so get ready fast because the maknaes are ready! We need to get to know Youngjae better!” A team lunch? He looked back at Jinyoung whose expression was unreadable. He needed to help Jinyoung but he was the leader of the group and he needed to be a part of what they were doing as well.

“Okay,” Jaebum agreed, it was for the best that he go. If he didn’t what kind of leader was he being? He walked and grabbed the paper of the bed and folded it and put it in his pocket. He ignored the looks of the other two, he would check the place out after lunch and see if he could find answers. Jinyoung meowed loudly and Jaebum looked at him and saw the alarm on his face, he had caught what Jaebum had done. Jaebum just shrugged. There was no way he wasn’t following this lead when it was all he had to go on. 

“Let’s go!” He said and he walked out the door and was followed by Mark and Jackson. He closed the door and went with them.

————

After lunch Jaebum did as he intended to and traveled to the address on the paper. He knew that Jinyoung must have had a reason for warning him but they were given the address for a reason and if he could find the book there they’d have more knowledge on what was going on. The address led him to a shop, a shop called “Magical Arts.” It was creepy looking from the outside and Jaebum wondered if he should enter. He saw that the shop was open from the sign on the window and the doors were also wide open, welcoming interested people. He decided to enter.

He walked into despite how creepy the outside looked. Inside there was a wall with bottles of different substances and a sign above it that said potions. On another wall were shelves full of books. The clerk desk in the shop was empty but there was a back room the owner was likely in. He walked to the wall of books, eyes instantly searching for the one Jinyoung had read from.

“Can I help you with something?” A voice asked and Jaebum turned to see an old woman that looked vaguely familiar. He wondered if she was the woman from the memories Jaebum had seen. She had worked in a book store in the memories not a magic store, it was possible she wasn’t the same.

“Yeah,” Jaebum responded, “I am looking for a book on magic.” He didn’t know if he should tell her the name.

“What kind of book?” The woman asked. Dancing around it would get him nowhere.

“A book called ‘Magic In Our World,’” Jaebum said, “I can’t seem to find it anywhere.” She narrowed her eyes at him and he wondered if he made a mistake by mentioning the name of the book.

“That’s a rare book,” she remarked, “where did you hear about it?” He didn’t know how to respond, he didn’t want to reveal everything that had happened.

“I just heard about it from a friend,” Jaebum shrugged, “I heard it was interesting.” The woman smiled warmly and Jaebum believed she was definitely the same woman from Jinyoung’s memories then. She was the one who told Jinyoung to call the number on the back of the book. He still had no answers as to why she had done it but he had bought the book only to read it and not call the number.

“It should be interesting,” the woman said, “I did write it.” Jaebum was surprised, she had written it? The stupid book Jinyoung had to throw at the wrong time was written by her? He could easily blame her for the mess they were in.

“You wrote it?” Jaebum lifted his eyebrows. She could probably give him more knowledge than he’d expected when he’d walked in. It was obvious why the wish had sent him to her.

“Yes,” she said, “when I was younger, but few copies still exist.”

“Do you know where I can find one?” Jaebum asked.

“I don’t just give them out,” she replied, “the last time I saw one was quite a bit of time ago. I’ve been working to track them down.” Jaebum sighed in response.

“So you don’t have one?” He asked. She could be hiding the truth from him though he couldn’t think of a reason why she would do that.

“Why are you really asking for it?” She questioned and he decided it was best just to tell her. Maybe she knew a way to fix Jinyoung and all the wishes he’d made.

“My friend was cursed,” Jaebum admitted, “I want to fix him. That book was something he bought before it happened and I believe it’s part of the reason, I need to find it.”. The woman’s smile faltered for a second. He was worried she wasn’t friendly and that maybe he’d made a mistake in telling her the truth.

“It is dangerous to mess with magic,” she cautioned, “and dangerous to seek it out for answers.”

“I believe that,” Jaebum replied, “but I didn’t even know magic existed a few days ago and what it’s done... I can’t do nothing. I have to save him.” Even if he had to mess with Magic he would do all he could to save Jinyoung.

“Magic comes with a cost,” she warned gently, “it is best to help your friend without it. There is always a way with these things. You just need to find the trick to freeing him. There is always a lesson being taught and an easy way out.” Why would anyone think a death curse could teach a lesson? They didn’t have time to figure out what that lesson was. It was cruel for the fairy to curse him the way she had, he hadn’t meant to do wrong.

“Only I can help him,” Jaebum replied, “and I don’t know what to do.” He was helpless and Jinyoung was helpless and frightened and trying to get through it. Jaebum could see he was struggling with it in how frightened he was when he curled into Jaebum to sleep. 

“I saw what happened to him,” Jaebum explained, “it was unfair, completely unfair. He’s just a kid, my age who was hurt and trying to find a way to stay here. Please, I need help and answers.” Her eyes narrowed.

“Did he by chance encounter a fairy?” She questioned and Jaebum didn’t like the look in her eyes but he was desperate.

“Yeah,” Jaebum admitted. He was already begging for help, he wouldn’t withhold information.

“After reading my book?” She asked him.

“Yes,” he said and he realized that was exactly the heart of everything. The words Jinyoung had read must have been some sort of spell. The fairy wasn’t just passing, Jinyoung had…

“He summoned this fairy,” the woman stated. She was right, he must have.

“Yeah,” Jaebum replied, “I think he did.”

“Then he must have offended her quite badly,” the woman’s speech was pointed almost cutting. Jaebum didn’t like it, he felt the need to defend what Jinyoung had done. He’d just been frustrated, he was hurting and frustrated. He didn’t deserve to be cursed to die.

“He didn’t do anything,” Jaebum defended, “He didn’t know what was going on. He’s just a kid, we both are.”

“Well,” she said, “what you need to do is to find the exact incantation he spoke. In a book full of then that could be difficult. Do you have any idea what he could have spoken?”

“We need the book to begin finding it,” Jaebum said, he did remember the words on the page and what Jinyoung had read.

“Kid I wrote the book,” she replied, “tell me all you know about this incantation and I’ll be able to determine which it was.” He sighed, she was right.

“He wanted wishes,” Jaebum replied, “he had been injured in dance practice and was sent home for it, he just wanted to wish it all away.” He didn’t know how safe it was after he’d said it and he was starting to get an uneasy feeling. She smiled and walked towards her shelf.

“This should help,” she held a bottle out to him. “This will nullify whatever curse was placed on your friend for 48 hours that should give you both time to figure it out. Do not seek out further incantations or answers, and be careful of strangers. There are many people who will seek out any residual magic.” She handed him the potion and walked towards the back room. He was confused, was she giving this to him?

“How much does it cost?” Jaebum asked her.

“That old thing?” She said, “I can make that in my sleep. It’s on the house, enjoy.” He was dumbfounded by the woman but he accepted it.

————

Jaebum got back to his room and found Jinyoung was asleep curled up on his unmade bed. Jaebum sat next to him and gently petted his head. Jinyoung didn’t wake up immediately but eventually Jaebum lifted his hand and Jinyoung’s head followed it as if seeking out for him to continue. Even though he was Jinyoung, he was still behaving like any cat would. He wondered if it was part of the curse for Jinyoung to be forced to like the things cats like. 

“Jinyoung-ah,” Jaebum said, “I brought something back to help us.” Jinyoung opened his eyes and Jaebum held up the bottle he had been given. He would make Jinyoung human again then they could better work together on the problem.

“What is it,” Jinyoung asked before he yawned and stretched his small body across the covers.

“I went to that address,” Jaebum explained, “and got this. Do you remember the old lady in the shop you bought that book from?” Jinyoung’s eyes widened and he nodded. “Well it turns out she wrote the book, I explained a bit of our situation and she told me this would nullify the curse for 48 hours then we could work together to fix it.” Jinyoung stood up suddenly and shook his head quickly.

“I’m not taking it,” he declared.

“What?” Jaebum was confused, “why not? If this works you can be human again for 2 days while we figure this out! It’s a good plan.” He didn’t think Jinyoung liked being a cat other than the fact that he could make Jaebum do whatever he wanted.

“No,” Jinyoung replied, “I do not trust that anything magical is safe. I’ve learned that it has a cost. I won’t take that or anything else magical, especially not from that woman!”

“Jinyoung it’s okay,” Jaebum replied, “this will help us!” He had to try to convince Jinyoung that it wouldn’t hurt him. Jinyoung turning human would be good for them, he wouldn’t be as venerable anymore and they could discuss the problems together and seek out answers.

“No it will cause more problems,” Jinyoung argued.

“The lady in the shop was really kind,” Jaebum stated, “she wanted to help us. She warned me about magic and wanted to find a way to help us without it. This was her best solution for us.”

“If she’s the same one,” Jinyoung said, “I don’t want any solution from her. Ever since she pointed me towards that book my entire life has fallen apart! I’ve lived this for weeks facing that I might die because of that book, you can’t understand how it was just by seeing some memories.”

“Jinyoung I’m just trying to help,” Jaebum said with frustration, “if this helps it’s worth it.”

“It won’t help!” Jinyoung cried, “nothing will help unless you wish the fairy to come here so she can fix me! She’s the only one who can fix this, that’s what you’re supposed to do and you won’t do it! Why won’t you actually help me?”

“But Jinyoung,” Jaebum replied, “what if I call her here and she is angry and curses me too!?”

“You’re really worried about yourself when I am about to die?” Jinyoung cried, and he looked like he was actually about to cry. 

“It doesn’t make sense!” Jaebum declared, “why would she cast a death sentence over what happened? It makes no fucking sense!” He was going to cry thinking about it. He didn’t want Jinyoung to die, he did’t want that at all.

“Well it happened! I don’t know why,” Jinyoung said, his voice sounded more broken, “why did that dance instructor decide I wasn’t good enough? Was it because we failed? Was that my fault? All of this was just my fault...” He curled around himself and Jaebum picked him up and held him close.

“None of it was your fault,” Jaebum said, “none at all.” Jinyoung cried little cat noises that were like those that he made the first time Jaebum noticed he was afraid of the rain. Jaebum felt tears in his own eyes, he felt helpless to find the answers and he was scared too. He put the bottle down and away for a moment and laid back holding onto Jinyoung still. He realized he could make Jinyoung take the potion if he slipped it in food and decided that was the best course of action. He wanted Jinyoung back as Jinyoung, not as a cat anymore. He put Jinyoung down next to him and waited till he was asleep, he fell asleep quite easily as any cat would.

“I wish for beef,” he said softly. A plate appeared and he reached for the bottle and opened it silently. He poured the contents all over the plate and left it on the bed. He slipped off without waking Jinyoung and moved to go take a shower. He hoped Jinyoung would wake up and eat the food.

When he shut off the shower a later he felt guilty maybe Jinyoung was right and they shouldn’t trust the potion or any magic. Maybe the solution was as simple as wishing for the fairy and begging her to reverse it. Jaebum dressed and hurried, he would remove the plate of food and try Jinyoung’s plan. He walked out and saw Jinyoung had already begun eating it. He stopped and laid down looking odd, the plate wasn't empty but Jinyoung looked stiff and rigid.

"Jinyoung what's wrong?" Jaebum asked him.

"I don't feel great," Jinyoung whined but then suddenly glowing dust started appearing around him. Jinyoung looked at it and tracked with it then looked at the plate of food, then back at Jaebum.

"It's going to be okay," Jaebum said. It was too late to change what he’d done. Jaebum knew it was his fault but Jinyoung was going to turn human again which wasn’t the worst thing.

"What did you do?" Jinyoung cried.

"You're going to be okay," Jaebum said again, it had to turn out fine.

"Jaebum," Jinyoung cried, "It hurts." But suddenly his paws started to grow and his body followed it. His fur started to disappear. Jaebum knew it was working, Jinyoung was turning back into himself. It was working and all their fears about what it might do were for nothing. Jinyoung's paws turned to hands and feet, fingers and toes stretching out. Jaebum was in disbelief what was happening. Everything was more real seeing the magic working and seeing his ears transform. His face transform. Everything transformed back until Jinyoung was all there.

Jinyoung was back and in the same clothes Jaebum remembered from the night he was transformed. He was laid out across the bed looking dazed. It sunk in that it was Jinyoung, his best friend who’d he’d been missing for so long.

“It worked!” Jaebum declared, “it actually worked!” Jinyoung’s eyes met his and Jinyoung looked confused and kind of scared. Jaebum rushed to him and put a hand on his back. "Jinyoung, you're okay, it's okay now." Jinyoung looked up at him and lifted his head, Jaebum resisted petting his head like he would have while he was a cat. Jaebum sat down next to him.

"I don't feel good at all," Jinyoung said, he pushed his head towards Jaebum's chest like he did as a kitten. Jaebum patted his head, not quite petting it. He was glad it had worked as he hoped it would instead of doing something else like Jinyoung had clearly feared.

"It'll be okay," Jaebum replied, "I'm going to fix this so you won't turn back, and you'll be just fine." Jinyoung leaned into his touch, Jaebum smiled.

"Okay," Jinyoung said, but then he leaned over the side of the bed and vomited onto Jaebum's pant's and shoes. Jaebum grimaced.

————

"So what now?" Jinyoung asked. He had felt sick for about an hour after taking the potion. Jaebum cleaned up the vomit and when Jinyoung was feeling better all he wanted was a shower so he went and took one. Jinyoung was feeling much better within hours of taking the potion and seemed to be happy to be himself again.

"Now we find that fairies name," Jaebum replied.

"How?" Jinyoung asked, "you just gave away the ability to make wishes. The whole curse is nullified, we can't do anything now." 

"Wait what?" Jaebum hadn't thought about it that way, "are you sure?" He should have guessed. The curse was off for two days and for those two days that meant every part of the curse was gone. He sighed, he hadn’t thought of that.

“I am pretty sure,” Jinyoung replied.

“I wish for beef,” Jaebum said just to check if it was gone for sure. Nothing happened. He waited and looked around more but there was nothing. 

“No more free gourmet meals,” Jinyoung grumbled.

“It’s fine,” Jaebum replied, it was a small thing to lose, “how does it feel to be you again?”

“I’ve always been me Jaebum,” Jinyoung replied, “even when I couldn’t speak.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Jaebum responded, “but it’s different now right?” Jinyoung nodded.

“Very different,” Jinyoung replied, “but I still am worried, what other cost could this carry? It’s dangerous!”

"We're in this together now," Jaebum replied, "so whatever the cost we face it together. We've always been very good at accomplishing things together." Jinyoung shook his head in response.

"Our last endeavor together didn't actually go well Jaebum," Jinyoung reminded him, "you know that." Jaebum sighed, Jinyoung was very much afraid and Jaebum didn’t know how to chase that fear away. Jinyoung knew a lot about what they were dealing with but Jaebum couldn’t help but to think that the answers were actually much simpler than either of them knew. He had a gut feeling that they would find the answer.

“I’m still angry with you,” Jinyoung said. He had been saying that throughout each hour as he actually was adjusting to walking on two legs again. He had laid stunned for a bit after the transformation. Walking on two feet again was strange for him and he nearly fell several times but everything started to come back naturally. It was funny, Jaebum was sure if he touched Jinyoung’s head that he would still be behaving like a cat. He reached over to test his theory and touched Jinyoung’s head. Jinyoung leaned his head up to his touch and Jaebum held back a laugh. It was funny to see his cat instincts still at work.

“Stop,” Jinyoung glared and pushed his hand away with a grumble. He definitely wouldn’t be shaking those habits too but he would protest them.

“I’m sorry,” Jaebum replied, “It’s just so funny.” He half expected Jinyoung to be licking his paws like he was still a cat but he hadn’t.

“What are we going to tell the others,” Jinyoung said, his speech more biting as he grew more frustrated. There was definitely no good way to explain what was going on and why Jaebum hadn’t said anything before.

“You didn’t want to tell them the truth,” Jaebum said, “so do you still not want to tell them?” He would go with what Jinyoung wanted.

“Of course not,” Jinyoung replied, “I don’t want to involve them, this is all dangerous even if you take it lightly.” 

“I don’t take it lightly,” Jaebum said, he resented how Jinyoung was treating them in all they were facing, “but this way you can help better. We need to use all our strengths.”

“We needed those wishes,” Jinyoung replied, “you haven’t really taken any time to listen. Those wishes are the answer.”

“I have been listening but your plan makes no sense,” Jaebum replied, “it could make things so much worse.”

“For you,” Jinyoung said, “nothing could get worse for me, only better. You’re being selfish.” Jaebum sighed, they would keep going around in circles over it but the fact was he had more leads. He had that number from the website he had found on wishing cats. He had a feeling the person who made that shop knew something. Still the woman had told him not to trust strangers. The way he saw it they had a couple of options. Call the person who made the website on wishing cats or go back to the magic store to give the woman a chance to see Jinyoung’s case up close. She knew he was cursed by a fairy maybe she could find out which one if she saw him.

“Jinyoung lets get out,” Jaebum said, “you haven’t gotten to do anything fun for weeks. Let’s go get food, and run along the river and do something just for the hell of it.”

“It’s cold out,” Jinyoung whined.

“You’re not staying here cooped up,” Jaebum replied, “not just because it’s cold out. Come on, let’s go.” Jinyoung would never agree to just go visit the woman since he was already wary of her.

“You hardly leave this room if someone doesn’t drag you out,” Jinyoung pointed out, his eyes narrowed, “what are you planning?”

“Nothing,” Jaebum defended.

“You’re a horrible actor,” Jinyoung said, “you’re planning something.” Jaebum shook his head.

“Nothing,” he said again.

“Second thought,” Jinyoung replied, “I am probably safer with Mark and Jackson for the next few days of my life.” Jaebum was surprised by his response, he thought it would be easy to convince Jinyoung to go out.

“Okay,” Jaebum said as he stood up to leave, “wait we’ll talk about this then.”

“No,” Jinyoung complained, “everytime we’ve talked about this you haven’t listened. Every time I tell you not to do something you’ve done it anyways. It’s like you’re not even hearing me!”

“Jinyoung I do hear you,” Jaebum said, “but I don’t agree, I am trying to fix this too.”

“But you didn’t listen,” Jinyoung said, “it’s still dangerous to assume you know how things are going to go. Sure the potion worked but why? What did you pay her to get it?” Jaebum sighed, he knew that would eventually come up.

“Nothing,” Jaebum said, “I paid nothing for it, she gave it to me and she was really nice about it. There was no lie, no trick in what she said.”

“No,” Jinyoung looked even more scared. “No it’s all...”

“What?” Jaebum asked him.

“She wanted something,” Jinyoung said, he looked so much more afraid.

“We need to get out of Seoul,” Jinyoung suddenly said pacing.

“Wait just stay calm,” Jaebum replied, “why?” He didn’t understand what was going on In Jinyoung’s head. As much as Jaebum didn’t listen, Jinyoung kept withholding information. Jaebum couldn’t just wish for it now, he would have to convince Jinyoung to tell him.

“Jinyoung you have to tell me what you’re scared of,” Jaebum tried to convince him.

“There are people,” Jinyoung began to give the information, “who chase down magic wherever it is, who try and capture it. Anyone cursed, we’re surrounded by residual magic. People kill to collect it and use it because of the truth. Humans can’t produce magic, they can only collect the magic fairies leave in this world. If a human gave you some of that residual magic they collected free of charge. You can bet there is a reason, a cost. She can probably get much more from me than what was in that bottle.” Jaebum was shocked, why hadn’t Jinyoung told him any of that before he’d used the potion?

Why were they discussing it too let?

“It’s all going to be okay,” he reassured but now he had dread filling him. If all that was really true what did that woman gain? What did she really want.

“No it’s not,” Jinyoung said, “if she knows where we are... she might have put something more in that potion.”

“Jinyoung she can’t get ahold of you when you’re like this,” Jaebum said, “we’ll just have to get the others involved and tell everyone what is going on. We’ll all stay with you. Nothing bad is going to happen again!” He wasn’t going to mess this up further. Not again.

“No we have to go,” Jinyoung said, “we have to get far away from here.” Jaebum’s head was hurting, he hadn’t know about any of this just a week before. Suddenly Jinyoung needed a fairy to reverse a curse to save him but they needed to find her before a witch got to him. A witch who Jaebum had unwittingly gotten involved.

“We have to go.” Jinyoung said again.

“Okay,” Jaebum replied. But then he realized the problem, he didn’t have much money to take them anywhere and now he couldn’t wish for it. He hadn’t even thought running could happen. Then suddenly there was a knock on his door. Jinyoung jumped, Jaebum grabbed him quickly and pushed him back towards his closet. 

“Stay here,” he whispered as Jinyoung realized what he was doing and shrunk back behind the clothing. Jaebum picked up clothes to cover him. There was another loud knock and Jaebum rushed to answer the door and hoped it was one of their friends. At the door was BamBam and Yugyeom. Jaebum smiled, glad it was them and not anyone else.

“Hey guys,” Jaebum said, he tried to act natural, “What’s up?”

“Hi, Jaebum hyung! Can we play with your cats?” BamBam said. That was a bad idea since Rainy wasn’t there anymore. He needed to think of an excuse to send them away.

“Um...” Jaebum stuttered, “I was just about to get in the shower, come back like tomorrow?” It was a lame excuse.

“We can play with them while your in the shower hyung,” BamBam declared, Yugyeom nodded.

“Um actually you can’t,” Jaebum replied, “Rainy is sick today.”

“Sick?” BamBam seemed concerned.

“Yeah he has a cold,” Jaebum said, he knew very well cats didn’t get colds. He mentally cursed himself for how lame his excuse was but he had to keep going with it. “I am keeping him on one side of the room so Nora doesn’t catch it. I have to be really careful, if you come in then well Nora will get sick too. So just stay out.” He just needed them to buy it and go, he didn’t want to yell at them again. He’d been crazy enough to them the past few weeks. He wanted them to at least feel okay in the mess that was going on.

“But hyung,” he should have known BamBam wouldn’t just leave, “can’t we at least see him?” 

“No,” Jaebum replied, “it is important that you do not come in here.”

“But Hyung?” BamBam seemed confused.

“Goodbye,” Jaebum told them, “have fun and go get ice cream!” He closed the door and leaned back. He couldn’t keep blowing off the members of the group he was supposed to lead but it was all he could do.

“They’re going to come back,” Jinyoung said as he came out from his hiding place.

“No,” Jaebum replied, “the maknaes are still scared of me, BamBam gets bold at times but... I probably need to do something to get him more comfortable.” Jinyoung stumbled through his clothes as he got back out into the room.

“You have to actually lead,” Jinyoung said. Jaebum ignored his comment and went back to their real problem. The witch who was likely after the fairies residual magic within Jinyoung. Maybe if she removed that magic she could do so without harming Jinyoung. Maybe there was a way to remove it and to break the curse. What if they were scared for no reason and the woman was the answer. She’d nullified the curse without harming Jinyoung, maybe she could remove it.

“Jinyoung,” Jaebum replied, “did you say people died when residual magic was removed from them?” Jinyoung looked at him quizzically. Maybe that wasn’t want happened.

“I know people kill for it,” Jinyoung replied, “there really isn’t much of a care for the lives attached to it. It’s not like nice people are involved.” But the woman at the shop hadn’t seemed evil, or like the kind of person who would willingly harm a child.

“Okay,” Jaebum replied, he had to get Jinyoung to trust what he wanted to do next, “lets focus on getting as far away from here as possible. I still have a few days off, we can go to Jinhae.” He grabbed a couple backpacks from his closet. “You can wear any of my clothes that you want to stay warm.” Jinyoung took the backpack Jaebum held out and sighed. 

“Where did my things go?” Jinyoung asked. The room they were in had been the dorm they had shared together, and Jaebum had no idea where Jinyoung’s things were. He had come back that day to find Jinyoung gone and everything gone, even the second bed. 

“It was all gone the day you ‘left,’” Jaebum said, “I have no idea what happened to it.”

“Which of your clothes are clean again?” Jinyoung asked him, he turned up his nose at the mess. “I saw you just throwing your dirty laundry here and it definitely got mixed in. This is all such a huge mess.” Jaebum was slightly embarrassed about how Jinyoung was now seeing how messy the room had gotten without him there to nag Jaebum to clean. When they had lived together Jinyoung had kept it clean and forced Jaebum to keep it clean. He had been gone for a few weeks and Jaebum had made a huge mess.

“Everything hung up is clean,” Jaebum said, “and everything to the right should be cleaned too.” Jinyoung picked stuff out while Jaebum put Nora in her cat carrier. He couldn’t tell BamBam to watch her and risk anyone finding anything else out. He packed some food for her and all the things she needed.

“Your clothes don’t fit me will at all,” Jinyoung whined.

"Well we don't have money to go out and buy you a new wardrobe and I can’t wish for your stuff back,” Jaebum replied.

"Where are we going?" Jinyoung asked, had he not been listening

“Jinhae,” Jaebum replied, "far away from all this." He hoped he could do everything he needed to do to fix this. Jaebum was beginning to form a plan. He handed Jinyoung a beanie and sunglasses, it wasn’t the best disguise but it was all they had. He hoped JJ Project fans didn’t spot them out on the streets. 

"You want to stay hidden to the others you should wear these until we get far from the dorm," Jaebum said and Jinyoung took them.

"I'm ready," Jinyoung replied as he put them on. Jaebum was almost ready. He finished his packing fast. What happened next would be dangerous. Bringing Jinyoung to the witches doors was dangerous but Jaebum was beginning to see there was a much bigger picture. If Jinyoung was right there was only one way to free him. There was so much risk but Jaebum had to risk it. They both left, slipped out carefully and into the streets. Jaebum and Jinyoung walked close to him as they went when Jinyoung suddenly stumbled.

“Are you okay?” Jaebum asked him.

“No,” Jinyoung responded. He coughed and was beginning to look very pale. Jaebum was confused, what could be going wrong?

"JInyoung?" Jaebum turned and grabbed his arms but suddenly dust started to glow around him. He coughed again.

"Jaebum," Jinyoung said his name, his body started loosing strength and he fell forward into Jaebum. Jaebum held onto him, what was going on? What was happening to him?

"Jaebum," Jinyoung said his name again, "I feel..." 

"Just hold on," Jaebum replied, maybe they had gotten the timeline wrong. Why was this happening? Jaebum was scared something was going really wrong, he was scared Jinyoung was dying. 

"I feel sick..." Jinyoung coughed and the dust glowed around his body. Was he turning back into a cat early? But then Jaebum was left in shock as Jinyoung vanished. His backpack fell to the ground and he vanished completely. The glowing dust swirled through the air where he had been and Jaebum stumbled back in complete shock.

"Jinyoung?" He called, scared. It wasn't supposed to happen. It couldn't be happening. It wasn't supposed to go like that. Jaebum hadn't even seen anything through. Jinyoung couldn't be disappearing on him, was that how he was set to die? To just vanish without a trace? He felt tears in his eyes as he stumbled to his knees. Was it all for nothing?

It couldn't all be for nothing at all.

“JINYOUNG!” He called out into the street, a fog had begun to form and he felt so very afraid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Where did Jinyoung go?
> 
> What is about to happen?
> 
> Conclusion coming soon, please comment to let me know what you think.


	5. I've Got You

Jaebum was stunned. Stunned with tears streaming down his face as he was gripped by fear. What if he had failed to save his friend? To save Jinyoung from any of this? What had he done? He should have just listened to Jinyoung and wished for the fairies name. He had put everything on the line, because Jinyoung was worth that much and he had lost everything. 

Jaebum and Jinyoung had been through everything together. Though they probably would never have chosen each other as friends in their lifetimes, fate seemed to have brought them together. They auditioned and tied for first together, they trained together and debuted together. Everything they did was supposed to be together. That was why it hurt when Jaebum thought he had left. But he hadn’t left. Of course he hadn’t left. Jaebum should have known better, should have trusted him more. They always trusted each other. Jinyoung trusted him and he’d failed.

Jinyoung hadn't just come to him because he loved cats. He had come to him because they were home together. Jaebum would give up his changes to debut 100 times, if it just meant Jinyoung was okay. He needed Jinyoung to be okay. He didn't know what to do, he didn’t know where to go and how to get him back.

He cried and cried when he heard the sound of a cat meowing repeatedly and loudly. He turned his head to see Nora standing in her carrier watching and meowing at him. There was an expression in her eyes, compassion. She had never looked at him with an expression so clear.

"Don't tell me you're cursed too?" Jaebum asked, his voice cracked. If anyone found him there they'd be shocked that he was talking to his cat like she could understand and crying cause his friend had just vanished. Nora meowed again and again, she didn’t let up.

"Can you understand me?" he asked her. She just looked at him and meowed again. She was just an ordinary cat, Jaebum believed that. She had always been ordinary to everyone but him. He had loved her the moment he saw her and knew he wanted to give her a home. Maybe she just saw he was hurting and wanted to comfort him in any way he could.

He opened the carrier and she stepped out towards him. Jaebum reached to pet her head but she began walking away from him.

“Wait!” Jaebum exclaimed, “you can’t run off Nora.” She looked and him and meowed loudly at him as if annoyed then she took off running. He was stunned but he grabbed Jinyoung’s backpack off the ground and followed quickly. He chased after her.

“Nora!” He called for her as he ran. She ran fast but not fast enough to lose him so he kept up with her as she ran. “Nora come back!” She just kept running, he needed to get to her. He wouldn’t lose her too. They kept running and it started to feel like a long way. He didn’t understand way she was running. He had no clue what to think, he just had to keep following her.

“Nora!” He shouted for her. She ran and ran. He didn’t want to lose everything in a single day. He pushed himself to keep running even as his lungs burned. To keep following and chasing until Nora finally stopped and sat down. He panted as he hadn’t run that far in a long time.

“You can’t run off!” He complained when he reached down to pick her up and pet her. He held tight and she squirmed a bit. She meowed and he saw her eyes following something. A white cat walking along the sidewalk. Nora meowed to the cat and squirmed out of Jaebum’s arms. She stopped and was meowing to the white cat back and forth like she had with Jinyoung. Jaebum had no idea what was going on when the white cat was suddenly surrounded by magic dust and began to transform. Jaebum had seen too many transformations in the last two days yet he was still in awe of them.

“Hello Jaebum,” a fairy was before him, not beautiful woman like the one who had stood before Jinyoung. This was a small flying creature that looked decidedly older than the fairy that had cursed his friend. Jaebum was in awe and shocked. He wasn’t sure what to do to show respect. He settled for falling to his knees like he’d seen in the moves.

“I need your help,” she said next and he looked confused? She needed his help? He needed her help.

“What?” He had no idea why she would say to her words, he didn’t know how to act in front of a fairy and he didn’t want to be cursed.

“Nora has told me what has happened to your friend,” the fairy replied, “Jinyoung’s curse was not for his actions but for the action of another. I apologize for all that happened to him.”

“Can you reverse it?” Jaebum asked her, desperate and afraid. He was afraid it was already too late.

“I wish I could,” she replied, “I know this has been difficult for him but I will do all I can to help. We both want the same thing.” What was it she wanted that he wanted? She wanted Jinyoung to be okay as well.

“What is your name?” Jaebum asked. She smiled.

“It is actually rude to just ask a fairy’s name,” she responded. 

“I’m sorry,” Jaebum said quickly, so wishing for the fairy to come to ask her name wouldn’t have worked

“I am just kidding,” the fairy laughed and Jaebum breathed in relief, “my name is Ayer. The fairy who cursed your friend is my sister and she is in trouble.”

“My friend just vanished,” Jinyoung said, “I don’t know where he is or what happened.” 

“The witch has him,” Ayer replied, “she’s been trying to get her hands on a fairy for years and because she got your friend she was able to capture my sister.”

“How?” Jaebum asked her.

“The witch wrote a spell to summon a fairy,” Ayer replied, “but she was unable to cast it. Fairies only respond to the calls of those with the purest of hearts. She tried for years to find someone who could summon a fairy and your friend did it, though the outcome wasn’t good. My sister was afraid which was why she acted the way she did. I am truly sorry and I want each wrong righted. We have to go together and save my sister and your friend. Without you I can’t do it.”

“You’ll save Jinyoung?” He asked her. He didn’t understand why she needed him but he would do whatever she asked.

“Everything has a cost Jaebum,” Ayer replied, “but there is something we both want, a balance. If she gets what she wants, she’ll drain Jinyoung of all the powerful residual magic used on him, and that will kill him. Then she’ll use it to drain my sister and she’ll become as powerful as a fairy. We can’t let her do that, she is dangerous and if she was powerful she would be a danger to this world.” He agreed, that couldn’t happen. Especially not the part where he lost his friend.

“What do we do?” He asked her.

“First brace yourself,” she moved her hands together and reached out, a dust surrounded Nora and Jaebum both. “I’m sending Nora home where she’ll be safe. As for us, let’s find your friend.” Everything around Jaebum went black. But then there was bright dust all around him. When then the dust vanished and he was on the street again but the sun was setting, he hadn’t noticed before.

“We’re here.” suddenly Ayer was next to him and she looked like a human, a beautiful older woman. They weren’t outside the magic store, instead they were outside a bookshop.

“Is this...” he realized that it was the bookshop where Jinyoung had gotten the magic book in the first place.

“Yes,” the fairy said, “you will be going alone from here. I can’t enter or we risk her taking two fairies magic. She would be unstoppable in that event.”

“What do I do?” He asked her.

“I’ll show you,” she put a hand to his head and Jaebum gasped as he saw the inside of the bookshop. He saw the way in, the way down.

“My sister will be in a trap,” Ayer said, “you must free her first and she’ll be able to break Jinyoung free from the woman spell.” He nodded, he would do his best.

“What is her name?” Jaebum asked.

“Simera,” Ayer said, “be careful when you enter, she is strong and we’re almost out of time. No matter what you see, you must free Simera first or else Jinyoung will not make it.”

“Thank you Ayer,” he said and he nodded, he turned to go in. He opened the door and entered. He had no idea what he was going to do, how he was going to figure it out. He was scared he didn’t know what to do, but Jinyoung was down there and he needed Jaebum so Jaebum would win. He ventured to the back wall and searched for the book he had seen in Ayer’s instructions. He moved it as he had seen to. Behind it there was a switch, he reached in to flip it. It wasn’t easy but eventually there was a clicking sound. He stepped back and the bookshelf slid open. Behind it was a staircase that would lead him down to her lair.

He took a deep breath and stepped onto it carefully. He walked quietly and slowly, he knew they didn’t have much time but he wanted to get down without altering her. He walked until he saw a door at the end. He heard noises coming from the other side.

He heard the woman’ voice and it sounded like an incantation. He crept slowly towards the door and he heard Jinyoung’s voice, unmistakably his, cry out in pain. He wasn’t too late, his heart pounded, he had to stop her. He moved the door slightly to see into the room. There were bookshelves blocking his view. He couldn’t see Jinyoung but he could hear him. He saw part of the old woman standing near where Jinyoung’s voice was coming from. He could also see the fairy, in her cat form in a cage.

He moved the door open a bit more and slipped in the room. He moved completely behind the large bookshelf. He peered through some of the books & saw what was going on. The witch had Jinyoung tied down, glowing wires around his limbs & she was waving her hands over him as she chanted.

The wires weren’t real, Jaebum saw every few chants that they disappeared. Jinyoung was hurting as she was working to draw the magic out of him, and he remembered that the fairy said the process would kill him and that no matter what Jaebum saw he had to free Simera first. She knew this was what Jaebum would see. There was a small cloud of magic dust forming above his best friend and Jaebum was worried he wouldn’t last much longer. He had to hurry.

He moved slowly towards the cage the cat was in. She didn’t look okay, he had the feeling it was a magical trap holding her in and holding her magic down. There was a latch on it, he had to get her out first. He crouched down and moved slowly out from the bookshelf. He reached carefully for the latch.

The cat’s eyes met his, she looked ordinary. She had calico fur and green eyes but she had expressions in them that were deep like the one’s Jinyoung had displayed when he was a cat. She looked frightened. He wished he could reassure her even though she had partially caused all the mess they were in. His hand touched the latch, he lifted it a bit but unfortunately for all of them it made a loud squeaking noise. He tried to pull it open faster, knowing the witch had already heard it. He was suddenly thrown back away from the cage, he watched the latch fall back into place as he flew back into the door. His body twisted painfully and he cried out. The witches eyes were on him.

“You stupid, foolish boy,” the witch leered at him, her eyes were glowing at the edges. He moved away quickly as she reached out with another blast of magic. He had to get away from her. She was human wielding magic she’s collected and he knew she would eventually run out.

“Let them go,” Jaebom demanded her, “they’ve never done anything to hurt you!” She laughed and launched another glowing blast, he dodged it.

“They may not have,” she sneered, “but fairies need to be destroyed from this world. Surely you see that. You see what this one did to your friend simply because he had a bad day. I want to destroy all of them.” He glanced back at the small cat, how much pain she appeared to be in. She looked so afraid. The cage must be blocking her magic, she didn’t look like someone that needed to be destroyed. She had cursed Jinyoung because she’d been afraid.

“I am sorry about your friend,” the witch said, “there is always a cost to these sort of things. The curse she put on him was perfect, exactly what I needed.” The book shelf he was behind was blasted and he rushed quickly forward. He needed to beat her at her own game. He had to get the cat fairy out of the cage. She was so afraid and Jaebum began to realize there was much more to everything that he could have previously understood. He could beat her.

He rushed forward and reached the table where Jinyoung was looking dazed. He didn’t think twice about the craziness of the plan he’d come up with and he reached a hand out into the magic hanging above his best friend. The witch threw a blast towards him now but it absorbed into the cloud above Jinyoung and Jaebum’s hands lit up with the magic. It rushed into him, filling his cells and veins. It burned, cracked inside him as his body began to light up.

He had no idea what drove him on but it seemed like the most logical course of action. Humans didn’t have magic, they could only use residual magic left in the world by fairies. Jaebum was every bit as human as she was. The witch had miscalculated when she had had left magic just hanging in the air. He took it all in. And watched as Jinyoung transformed into a small black kitten once again when he did.

“That was even more foolish,” the witch said as she moved her hands out. “You have no idea what to do with that,” she screeched and reached out to push another bookshelf towards him.

“How hard can it be?” He asked as he put his hands out & was shocked with magic dust flew forward & dissolved the bookshelf as he thought what he wanted. He hurried then and grabbed the tiny kitten form of Jinyoung. He was a bit scared he would accidentally hurt him but he put Jinyoung on his shoulder. He felt his curved claws dig into his sweater.

“Hold on,” Jaebum said. He had to get the cat fairy out next. 

“You’re not strong enough to use all that,” the witch screeched at him.

“Jaebum,” Jinyoung could still speak. The witch was sending more objects towards them. He thought in his mind and reached out hoping to dissolve them. They vanished again. He was beginning to feel what he was doing, his arms were beginning to hurt. To really hurt from the magic flowing through them but it was all he could do in that moment. He had to get to Simera. He reached again towards the cage and pushed his arms forward. The blast radiated around the cage and the latch broke partially. He needed to hit it again.

“You can’t win this,” the witch said, “you don’t know what you’re dealing with.”

“I have a few ideas,” he sneered back. He pushed again with all the magic he could and in that moment the witch reached out with magic he didn’t expect and grabbed Jinyoung away from him. He transformed back to himself midair and Jaebum jumped and reached out for him. He moved with the magic in his veins as he did. Jaebum grabbed his hand and pulled back. Jinyoung was the suspended in the air, being pulled in by the witch with magic and held tightly by Jaebum.

“I got you,” Jaebum said to him. Jinyoung looked so scared. Jaebum wasn’t going to lose, not when he was so close getting everything back. He wouldn’t lose Jinyoung ever again. There was magic dust in the air all around them from the fight. It seemed crazy to try and take it all in, probably not even possible but he reached with his free hand and pictured what he needed. The dust began to float towards him as he expected it to.

He felt resistance as he realized the witch was trying to pull it as well. She was divided and he pulled harder with all his might. She let go of Jinyoung suddenly and Jaebum flew back as Jinyoung impacted him. All the floating residual magic flew towards her as he lost hold of it. His head was spinning but he wasn’t done yet. Jinyoung had changed back into a cat again. Jaebum was determined to protect him. He pushed him back towards the door.

“Go Jinyoung,” he said to him, “get out if here and run.”

“No,” Jinyoung said, “I’m not just leaving you!” He looked like he was about to cry.

“Jinyoung,” Jaebum said, “you have to run.” If he got away the witch wouldn’t have enough magic to drain Simera, and she wouldn’t win.

“No I don’t!” Jinyoung responded and Jinyoung ran towards the fairies cage to help her. 

“Jinyoung!” Jaebum shouted at him.

“You’re both foolish!” the witch declared and Jaebum saw her intent. He reached out and moved fast & jumped in the way, hands out.

“NO!” He pushed back against the magic he sent but he didn’t get all of it. Some of it hit Jinyoung and Jinyoung flew back. Jaebum watched in horror as he flew to the back wall of the room and crashed into it hard. He fell, tears filled Jaebum’s eyes as he didn’t get up.

He didn’t know how he was going to win. She was too strong and he couldn’t get close enough. The glow in his arms was fading. Jaebum looked and watched as Jinyoung’s eyes opened and looked into his. The expression on his face was one Jaebum never wanted to see again, so much fear and in that moment realized the magic inside him wasn’t the only magic they had. He was staring into the eyes of Jinyoung, Jinyoung as a kitten. Jinyoung cursed. 

“I wish for your magic to leave you,” Jaebum declared fast as he realized their greatest weapon was wishes. The one he gained by Jinyoung losing his form. The witch had not expected those words from him, that much was clear in her eyes.

“I wish for Simera to be free,” Jaebum shouted, tears dripped down his face as he washed the magic within the woman begin to leave her body. She cried and shrieked out seeking to hold onto it.

“No!” She said as she kept reaching for it, “What have you done!’ The most powerful magic was in the curse placed upon Jinyoung. The one with enough residual magic to give the witch what she wanted, but it’s will was Jaebum’s. The granting of each wish was given to by Jinyoung to Jaebum. The cage around Simera crumbled to dust and she stood up. She transformed into the form Jaebum remembered from the visions of Jinyoung’s memories.

“I wish for Jinyoung to be free,” Jaebum begged one wish he didn’t know if it was possible to ask, but he wanted it so badly.cSimera stepped forward towards the witch whose power was still draining, she was starting to waste away as it left her. She cried out again and again. Jaebum slumped back, he breathed heavy and deep.

“You will never hurt anyone ever again,” Simera said calmly and Jaebum was surprised that was all it took. The witch began to vanish slowly with a long shriek till she faded to nothing… He then realized it wasn’t Simera’s words that caused her to vanish. It was his. She had lived so long off the magic she had taken in that in taking that away, he took away all she was. He looked at his own hands in shock as they still glowed. Magic had a price, he understood it more than ever.

“Let’s go,” Simera reached out and wrapped Jinyoung in magic and Jaebum was surprised when everything was black for a moment then surrounded by glowing dust again. When his vision cleaned again they were back in the park Jinyoung had been cursed in. Ayer was floating above them in her fairy form. Simera transformed herself into her fairy form and flew next to her sister to hug her.

Jaebum searched for Jinyoung and found him lying on the ground next him. He was still a cat. Still cursed. Jaebum’s wish hadn’t worked on him. No matter how much he had put into it, and tears filled his eyes.

“I am sorry,” Simera spoke to Jaebum, “when I saw the book he had... I was frightened that someone could summon me, I reacted and I shouldn’t have cursed him like that. I just feared the witch would find me or another of our kind through him... it turned out that way anyway.”

“The curse saved us in the end,” Jaebum told her, he knew his wishes had changed everything. It all made sense, why the witch has sought to keep Jinyoung in his human form. He was much more dangerous to her as Jaebum’s wishing cat. It was also why Ayer had needed Jaebum’s help, he was the only one who could wish on Jinyoung.

“Can you fix him?” Jaebum asked her.

“You can,” Simera told him, “you have my name, the name of the one who caused it. With my name it’s simple.” Jaebum was confused. How could it be simple? It took him a moment to realize that he was one wish away, that every word mattered.

“I wish for Simera’s curse to be broken.”

Dust began to float around Jinyoung. The dust engulfed him. Jaebum had seen him transform before, but this time he felt the weight of everything lift away. This time Jinyoung was really free, he would really be okay. It happened slowly and the dust fell revealing him. Jaebum got down beside him quickly and pulled him into his arms. He was so happy that it was over and that his friend was safe. He could feel Jinyoung was smiling, his whole face was lit up with a smile.

“You did it,” Jinyoung said.

“We did it together,” Jaebum replied. It was cheesy, something he wouldn’t have liked before but in that moment he couldn’t help it.

“Wait,” Jinyoung pulled back and reached to grab Jaebum’s arms, “what about this? What will this do to him?” He asked the fairies and Jaebum saw the dust still around and in his arms.

“Oh I can fix that,” Ayer said. She reached a hand forward and drew the magic from his arms. It was a lot and his arms and body hurt before it left, they hurt even more after. He leaned on Jinyoung. They’d had an exhausting day.

“Thank you,” he said to the fairies.

“No thank you,” Simera said, “after what I did to your friend you didn’t have to save my life or show any compassion on me. Thank you. Both of you are pure of heart.”

“But what cost?” Jinyoung asked now, “in the end what cost will we pay?” Jinyoung was right, magic always had a cost.

“The things you wanted, the wishes you made will be yours,” Simera said, “but the biggest one you made will be different. You will debut together, all 7 of you. But things won’t be easy, it won’t be instant success, you’ll have to work hard and fight through many disappointments. But it will all be worth it, you will learn to appreciate each moment and those you get to cherish them with.” It didn’t seem too bad.

“We will send you home now,” Ayer replied, “but you won’t remember our names, you won’t remember our appearances. You must understand that is what is best for the safety of our kind and for the safety of Magic in our world.” He understood. They nodded together as Ayer reached out. They didn’t get to say goodbye as magic engulfed them one more time. Jaebum felt Jinyoung’s hands clinging to him as they floated through the dark together and arrived together in their shared dorm room.

All Jinyoung’s stuff had reappeared. And everything was as it was before the mess had happened. They found the boys didn’t remember Jinyoung had ever gone missing, neither did the company. His parents were angry with him for not calling for weeks but that was the only thing that had stayed the same.

Jinyoung fell back into the routine of things naturally. They moved in a dorm together, and Jaebum was glad he had gotten his best friend back. They would debut together again.

They all trained together as seven and their group name was chosen.

They would be GOT7, but Jinyoung and Jaebum knew they always would call each other JJ Project.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for joining me on this fun little ride.
> 
> The ending is kinda abrupt but I never knew just how to end it. I hope you loved the story. Please comment to let me know your thoughts.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading and check out my Hunger Games series for more JJP as it is a huge passion project of mine.

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment and let me know what you think. Updates will be frozen if no comments are left.


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